Origin Stories in Political Thought : : Discourses on Gender, Power, and Citizenship / / Joanne H. Wright.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013
• VerfasserIn: Wright, Joanne H.,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©2004
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (260 p.)

Origin stories are a recurring motif in the history of political thought. Presented as narratives that describe the beginnings of politics and power, these stories are among the most provocative and politically contentious means by which Western society organizes and represents its experience. Indeed, as scripts of citizenship, origin stories seek to manufacture consent to a preconceived ? and hierarchical ? political vision.Joanne H. Wright's Origin Stories in Political Thought examines Plato's Timaeus, Hobbes's story of the state of nature and the social contract, and early Second Wave feminist stories about the beginnings of patriarchal social relations. Using a historically sensitive, feminist methodology, Wright documents and deconstructs the tradition of telling origin stories in the larger history of political thought.Although individual tales have been assessed in current scholarship, the motif of the origin story itself has, until now, escaped systematic analysis. With meticulous research and convincing conclusions, Origin Stories in Political Thought makes a groundbreaking and valuable contribution to both feminist and political studies.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- 1. The Origins Imperative in Political Theory: An Introduction -- 2. The Birth of Philosophy: Plato's Creation Politics -- 3. Hobbes and the Discourse on Origins -- 4. Gender in Hobbes's Origin Story: The Case for Original Maternal Dominion -- 5. Pateman's Sexual Contract: An Origin Story of Her Own -- 6. Getting to the Root of Patriarchy: Radical Feminism's Quest for Origins -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index