The Problem of the Passions: Feminism, Psychoanalysis, and Social Theory

by Cynthia Burack

Overview

Women, says conventional wisdom, are warm, nurturing caregivers with an intrinsically enhanced capacity for attachment and compassion. Feminists, says the popular image, are full of rage, devoid of the feelings that are natural to women. How have feminists themselves dealt with this dualism and, more specifically, with the disagreeable passions?
What has too often been missing from discussions of women's psychology in social theory is an account of women as ambivalent: both empathic and enraged, loving and hating. The Problem of the Passions fills this void. Examining the work of such feminist theorists as Carol Gilligan, Nancy Chodorow, Jessica Benjamin, and Dorothy Dinnerstein in a new light, Burack argues that feminist social theory can be repaired through attention to the pioneering psychoanalytic work of Melanie Klein. Sure to be of interest to feminists, psychoanalysts, political scientists, and social theorists, The Problem of the Passions is essential reading for anyone concerned with feminism and questions of identity in social thought.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814725023
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	03/01/1995
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	152
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Cynthia Burack is Professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies at the Ohio State University. She is the author of numerous books including Because We Are Human: Contesting US Support for Gender and Sexuality Human Rights Abroad and Right-Wing Populism and the Media.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Reminds us of the importance of unsettling and often disruptive and messy emotions like rage, greed, anger, and hate, and the effect of these disagreeable passions' on the self and perception."

-James M. Glass ,Department of Political Science, University of Maryland, College Park, author of Shattered Selves

"A timely contribution to the fields of political theory, feminist theory, and psychology."

-Jane Flax,Professor of Political Science Howard University

"A fascinating and important treatment of feminist theory...a sensitive and searching critique that reminds us of the importance of unsettling and often disruptive and messy emotions like rage, greed, anger, and hate, and the effect of these 'disagreeable passions' on the self and perception."

-James M. Glass,University of Maryland, College Park, author of Shattered Selves

"...deserves to be read and taken seriously."

-E. Victor Wolfenstein,UCLA, author of Psychoanalytic-Marxism: Groundwork

Editorial Reviews

Traditionally, women are seen as warm and nurturing, but feminists are seen as full of hate and rage. Burack (political science, George Washington U.) addresses the paradox by drawing on psychoanalytic studies, particularly by Melanie Klein, suggesting that women are ambivalent, and are actually capable of experiencing more than one strong emotion. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"A fascinating and important treatment of feminist theory...a sensitive and searching critique that reminds us of the importance of unsettling and often disruptive and messy emotions like rage, greed, anger, and hate, and the effect of these ‘disagreeable passions' on the self and perception."

James M. Glass

"A timely contribution to the fields of political theory, feminist theory, and psychology."

Jane Flax

"...deserves to be read and taken seriously."

E. Victor Wolfenstein

"Reminds us of the importance of unsettling and often disruptive and messy emotions like rage, greed, anger, and hate, and the effect of these disagreeable passions' on the self and perception."

-James M. Glass ,Department of Political Science, University of Maryland, College Park, author of Shattered Selves

"A timely contribution to the fields of political theory, feminist theory, and psychology."

-Jane Flax,Professor of Political Science Howard University

"A fascinating and important treatment of feminist theory...a sensitive and searching critique that reminds us of the importance of unsettling and often disruptive and messy emotions like rage, greed, anger, and hate, and the effect of these 'disagreeable passions' on the self and perception."

-James M. Glass,University of Maryland, College Park, author of Shattered Selves

"...deserves to be read and taken seriously."

-E. Victor Wolfenstein,UCLA, author of Psychoanalytic-Marxism: Groundwork

From the Publisher