Sex, Culture, and Justice : : The Limits of Choice / / Clare Chambers.

Autonomy is fundamental to liberalism. But autonomous individuals often choose to do things that harm themselves or undermine their equality. In particular, women often choose to participate in practices of sexual inequality-cosmetic surgery, gendered patterns of work and childcare, makeup, restrict...

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Superior document:Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Penn State University Press Complete eBook-Package Pre-2014
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Place / Publishing House:University Park, PA : : Penn State University Press, , [2021]
©2007
Year of Publication:2021
Language:English
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Physical Description:1 online resource (256 p.)
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Other title:Frontmatter --
Contents --
Acknowledgments --
Introduction --
Part One. Theories of Social Construction --
1. Creativity, Cultural Practice, and the Body: Foucault and Three Problems with the Liberal Focus on Choice --
2. Masculine Domination, Radical Feminism, and Change --
3. Social Construction, Normativity, and Difference --
Part Two. Liberalism, Culture, and Autonomy --
4. All Must Have Prizes: The Liberal Case for Interference in Cultural Practices --
5. Two Orders of Autonomy and Political Liberalism: Breast Implants Versus Female Genital Mutilation --
6. Paternalism and Autonomy --
7. Liberal Perfectionism and the Autonomy of Restricted Lives --
Conclusion --
Bibliography --
Index
Summary:Autonomy is fundamental to liberalism. But autonomous individuals often choose to do things that harm themselves or undermine their equality. In particular, women often choose to participate in practices of sexual inequality-cosmetic surgery, gendered patterns of work and childcare, makeup, restrictive clothing, or the sexual subordination required by membership in certain religious groups. In this book, Clare Chambers argues that this predicament poses a fundamental challenge to many existing liberal and multicultural theories that dominate contemporary political philosophy.Chambers argues that a theory of justice cannot ignore the influence of culture and the role it plays in shaping choices. If cultures shape choices, it is problematic to use those choices as the measure of the justice of the culture. Drawing upon feminist critiques of gender inequality and poststructuralist theories of social construction, she argues that we should accept some of the multicultural claims about the importance of culture in shaping our actions and identities, but that we should reach the opposite normative conclusion to that of multiculturalists and many liberals. Rather than using the idea of social construction to justify cultural respect or protection, we should use it to ground a critical stance toward cultural norms. The book presents radical proposals for state action to promote sexual and cultural justice.
Format:Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
ISBN:9780271035031
9783110745269
DOI:10.1515/9780271035031?locatt=mode:legacy
Access:restricted access
Hierarchical level:Monograph
Statement of Responsibility: Clare Chambers.