A feminist analysis of the new right

For some years now, the phenomenon known as The New Right has been developing in the United States, and although there is growing recognition of its destructiveness, there is little understanding of its real nature.At first examination The New Right seems to hold contradictory or incongruous beliefs and values, but placed within the context of fascism, authoritarianism, and ultimately masculism, the whole system of doctrine begins to make sense.While ostensibly supporting traditionalist principles of Christianity, American patriotism, and free enterprise economics, The New Right really encompasses groups of individuals unable to negotiate the uncertainties of lived existence and the fear of death and non-being. Drawn, therefore, to the consciousness of authoritarian rigidity, they seek to reinforce a flimsy structure of salvation by insisting upon absolute agreement with their perspective.The entire system of thought and behavior rests upon an alienation from nature lodged in patriarchal, masculist consciousness.Understanding this structure helps us to deal more effectively with The New Right and reinforces our will to oppose it.     

Feminist perspectives report of the feminist perspectives working group to the closing plenary

This article is based on the experiences of the feminist perspectives workshop that met each day of the Congress. It discusses feminism as a worldview and particularly applies that perspective to the Congress proceedings. It examines the Congress in terms of three vital aspects of feminism: power, strategy and diversity. Finally, it suggests some ways in which a global feminist perspective might improve future international conferences.     

Depoliticising the personal : A feminist slogan in feminist therapy

One of the great insights of second wave feminism was the recognition that “the personal is political.” Many feminist psychologists (both practitioners and researchers) claim a strong commitment to this slogan and attempt to implement it through their theory and practice. This article explores four interpretations of “the personal is political” in feminist psychological writing. It is argued that far from achieving radical feminist goals, psychological interpretations serve: (1) to personalise the political, translating social, economic, and ecological concerns into individual psychological matters; (2) to foster revolution “from within” at the expense of political change in the outside world; (3) that insofar as it aims uncritically to “validate women's experience,” it ignores the social and political factors which shape experience; and (4) that the concept of “empowerment” depends upon a radical split between the “personal” and the “political”. In sum, it is concluded that femenist acknowledgement that the personal really is political means rejecting psychology.     

ambivalent optimism: women's and gender studies in Australian universities

This article describes the place of Women's and Gender Studies programmes in Australian universities as a way of thinking about the place of feminism in the academy. It begins with a story of one such small programme at a time of stress and locates this story in an account of change in Australian universities over the last 20-plus years. The narrative traces a contradictory domain in which women, feminist scholarship and Women's and Gender Studies are enmeshed. The article draws on feminist literature about Australian universities to argue that while neo-liberal university environments are clearly places where masculinist values prevail, the flows of power around individual Women's and Gender Studies programmes cannot be simply predicted. Women's and Gender Studies programmes are thriving in some universities (on a small scale). As well as institutional imperatives Women's and Gender Studies programmes are engaged by specific intellectual challenges and some of these are sketched with reference to the Australian context. Asserting the need for dedicated research and teaching that focuses on gender, the article concludes that Women's and Gender Studies programmes in Australian universities are energetic places for this to occur. It proposes an ambivalent optimism to describe its assessment of these programmes and their viability as future places of work for feminist scholars.     

Women and drunken sociology: Developing a feminist analysis

The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the key areas of concern which relate to women and alcohol and to frame these issues within a feminist perspective. Five areas of discussion include: (1) alcohol research as multidisciplinary and multisexist; (2) ‘drunken sociology’ and the development or lack of development of the women's issue; (3) the women and alcohol issue thus far; (4) the need for a feminist perspective and women as passive consumers and economic targets and (5) alcoholism, addictions or just plain old dependency? It is hoped that the discussion presented in this paper will highlight some of the difficulties which confront feminist scholars working in this particular field of study.