In an article published in Hypatia almost two decades ago, Charlene Haddock Seigfried, asked, “Where are all the Pragmatist Feminists?” Seigfried found it curious that feminists had not integrated the intellectual tradition of the United States into their thinking as well as why American pragmatists had failed to engage feminism in a more meaningful manner despite the obvious points of contact between the two branches of thought.
Her question remains valid today. Feminist pragmatist scholarship remains a marginalized, albeit robust, area of study. What has occurred in the intervening two decades is the important feminist work of recovery. In particular, through the publication of a number of books and articles, the writing of Jane Addams has been rediscovered as a classical American site of pragmatist philosophy. Although engaging Addams has been intellectually fruitful, if feminist and pragmatism is to be a viable intellectual endeavor, its connection to contemporary thought, policy, and action will have to more explicitly emerge.
One way to frame the relationship between feminism and pragmatism is in their common commitments such as the importance of context and experience, the relationship of politics and values and the production of knowledge and metaphysics, and the need for diversity and thus dialogue among differently situated groups.
Contemporary Feminist Pragmatism offers the next step in this intellectual journey as site for engaging the intersection of these two dynamic fields of thought. Continue reading →
