Book Notes

Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. Edited by Carole R. Mccann and Seung-Kyung Kim. New York: Routledge, 2003.

"This anthology assembles readings that present key aspects of the conversations and debates within multiracial U.S. feminisms and places those local conversations and debates within a global perspective." To that end, the editors have tried to decentralize and complicate mainstream white/anglo feminism. The result is a copious collection of diverse readings loosely centered around the themes of gender, women's experiences, the personal as political, and difference. The collection itself is divided into three sections. The first section, "Definitions and Movements," takes a sweeping look at various feminist themes and movements. The editors include both classic texts such as an excerpt from Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex as well as authors that challenge those texts such as Elizabeth Martinez's "La Chicana" and bell hooks's "Feminism: A Movement to End Sexist Oppression." The next section, "Theorizing Intersecting Identities," offers a "kaleidoscope" of various theories and debates over difference. Of necessity, these overlapping issues are categorized under various subtopics: race and nation, class, and sexuality. Again, the point is to provide an array of approaches that explore and complicate the issue of difference rather than presenting a unified approach. This section includes (among others) selections from Gloria Anzaldúa, Heidi Hartmann, Monique Wittig, and Audre Lorde. The final section, "Theorizing Feminist Agency and Politics," explores standpoint theory and poststructuralist theories. This section shows both the promise and the drawbacks of these theoretical approaches with selections from Nancy Hartsock, Uma Narayan, Joan W. Scott, Donna Haraway, and others. This section ends with some writings on coalition building in particular activist contexts. Some of the authors included in this section are June Jordan, Adrienne Rich, and Chandra Talpade Mohanty.

Philosophy, Feminism, and Faith. Edited by Ruth E. Groenhout and Marya Bower Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.

This anthology addresses the seemingly incompatible concepts contained in its title: philosophy, feminism, and faith. It explores questions related to how these diverse elements intersect in women's lives without providing single answers. Rather, it suggests several different perspectives growing out of the various authors' experience and theorizing. The essays span issues from the relationship between religion and reason, political perspectives and identity, and more general thoughts regarding the connections and discords among the titled themes. Essays are furnished by Martha Nussbaum, Mary B. Mahowald, Winifred Wing Han Lamb, Sr. Mary Christine Morkovsky, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Marianne Sawicki, Jacqueline Scott, Patricia Altenbernd Johnson, Ruth E. Groenhout, Caroline J. Simon, Laura Duhan Kaplan, Azizah Y. Al-Hibri, Nel Noddings, Irmgard Scherer, M. Elaine Botha, Marilyn Nissim-Sabat, and Sara Ebenreck.

Feminist Philosophy of Religion. Edited by Pamela Sue Anderson and Beverley Clack. New York: Routledge, 2004.

Recognizing that most of the debate in the philosophy of religion has excluded women in thought and practice, this anthology seeks "a transformation of the field [of philosophy of religion] by the inclusion of women and marginalized others, of those things associated with the female, of methods thought to be impossible for women, and of material content which has been left out of debate or reflection, as a source of anxiety" (xiv). Part 1 consists of an overview of significant approaches to the feminist philosophy of religion, including psychoanalytic, poststructuralist, postmetaphysical, and epistemological frameworks. Part 2 explores various philosophical topics in feminist philosophy of religion including divinity, embodiment, autonomy and spirituality, and religious practice. The contributors are Pamela Sue Anderson, Ellen T. Armour, Tina Beattie, Beverley Clack, Vrinda Dalmiya, Dorota Filipczak, Nancy Frankenberry, Harriet A. Harris, Amy Hollywood, Grace M. Jantzen, Alison Jasper, Fionola Meredith, Kathleen O'Grady, Melissa Raphael, Janet Martin Soskice, and Heather Walton.

Setting the Moral Compass: Essays by Women Philosophers. Edited by Cheshire Calhoun. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

This collection admirably recognizes and documents the contribution various women have made to moral philosophy by making "visible women moral philosophers' varied conceptions of the proper subjects, texts, methods, audiences, and purposes of moral philosophy." It also aims to show the connections between explicitly...