Justice, Gender, and the Family

by Susan Moller Okin

Overview

In the first feminist critique of modern political theory, Okin shows how the failure to apply theories of justice to the family not only undermines our most cherished democratic values but has led to a major crisis over gender-related issues.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465037032
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	01/30/1991
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.88(d)
Lexile:	1660L (what's this?)

About the Author

Susan Moller Okin is a professor of politics at Stanford University.

What People are Saying About This

Michael Walzer

"The first sustained faminist account of distributive justice....a splendid book."

Jane Mansbridge

"Should change the course of twentieth-century thinking about justice. After this book, no philosopher of stature will be able to write of justice without considering justice in the family. This book is genuinely path-breaking."

Editorial Reviews

A tough, brilliant book...It doesn't let anybody get away with sexism.

Boston Globe

Okin, also author of Women in Western Political Thought ( LJ 1/15/80), here is concerned with the lack of justice experienced by American women in both the public and private spheres. Lack of justice in the private sphere of gender-structured marriage leads to a lack of justice in the public sphere of the work place, the professions, and politics. Marriage makes women vulnerable due to the devaluation of human reproductive work and the persistence of a traditional division of labor within marriage. Divorce compounds the problem since it results in poverty for many women. This is a strong study of the contradictions in a democratic form of government, but Okin's recommendations lack analysis and are not fully linked to the political and economic arena. Recommended for undergraduate and graduate collections.-- Eleanor A. Schwab, South Dakota State Univ., Brookings

Library Journal