Publisher Description

Contemporary theorists use the term "social construction" with the aim of exposing how what's purportedly "natural" is often at least partly social and, more specifically, how this masking of the social is politically significant. In these previously published essays, Sally Haslanger draws on insights from feminist and critical race theory to explore and develop the idea that gender and race are positions within a structure of social relations. On thisinterpretation, the point of saying that gender and race are socially constructed is not to make a causal claim about the origins of our concepts of gender and race, or to take a stand in the nature/nurturedebate, but to locate these categories within a realist social ontology. This is politically important, for by theorizing how gender and race fit within different structures of social relations we are better able to identify and combat forms of systematic injustice.Although the central essays of the book focus on a critical social realism about gender and race, these accounts function as case studies for a broader critical social realism. To develop this broader approach,several essays offer reworked notions of ideology, practice, and social structure, drawing on recent research in sociology and social psychology. Ideology, on the proposed view, is a relatively stableset of shared dispositions to respond to the world, often in ways that also shape the world to evoke those very dispositions. This looping of our dispositions through the material world enables the social to appear natural. Additional essays in the book situate this approach to social phenomena in relation to philosophical methodology, and to specific debates in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language. The book as a whole explores the interface betweenanalytic philosophy and critical theory.

Author Biography

Sally Haslanger is Professor of Philosophy in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT, and directs the Women's and Gender Studies Program. She specializes in analytic metaphysics, epistemology and feminist theory, with an emphasis on questions concerning social ontology and social justice. She has co-edited three volumes: Persistence: Contemporary Readings (with Roxanne Marie Kurtz, 2006), Adoption Matters: Philosophicaland Feminist Essays (with Charlotte Witt, 2005), and Theorizing Feminisms (with Elizabeth Hackett, 2005).

Table of Contents

IntroductionI. Social Construction1. "Social Construction: Myths and Reality"2. "On Being Objective and Being Objectified."3. "Ontology and Social Construction."4. "Social Construction: The "Debunking" Project."5. "Feminism and Metaphysics: Negotiating the Natural."6. "Family, Ancestry and Self: What is the Moral Significance of Biological Ties?"7. "Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them To Be?"8. "Future Genders? Future Races?"9. "You Mixed? Racial Identity without Racial Biology."10. "A Social Constructionist Analysis of Race"11. "Oppressions: Racial and Other"III. Language and Knowledge12. "What Knowledge Is and What It Ought To Be: Feminist Values and Normative Epistemology"13. "What Are We Talking About? The Semantics and Politics of Social Kinds"14. "What Good Are Our Intuitions? Philosophical Analysis and Social Kinds"15. "But Mom, Crop-Tops Are Cute!"16. "Language, Politics and 'The Folk': Looking for the 'Meaning' of Race "17. "Ideology, Generics, and Common Ground"

Review

"Professor's Haslanger's book provides the definitive account of what 'social construction' amounts to and what work it can do. I do not exaggerate. The idea of social construction is such an overworked trope, especially in literary and critical theory circles, that it seems to have lost much of its content. Contemporary usage tends to be sloppy and confused. Professor Haslanger's chapters on this subject are models of analytical rigor, while also accessible toa much wider audience than metaphysicians alone."--Elizabeth Anderson, Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan"Haslanger's book contains thoughtful and innovative essays in the field of social construction." -- Philosophy in Review

Promotional

Sally Haslanger develops the idea that gender and race are positions within a structure of social relations

Long Description

Contemporary theorists use the term "social construction" with the aim of exposing how what's purportedly "natural" is often at least partly social and, more specifically, how this masking of the social is politically significant. In these previously published essays, Sally Haslanger draws on insights from feminist and critical race theory to explore and develop the idea that gender and race are positions within a structure of social relations. On this
interpretation, the point of saying that gender and race are socially constructed is not to make a causal claim about the origins of our concepts of gender and race, or to take a stand in the nature/nurture
debate, but to locate these categories within a realist social ontology. This is politically important, for by theorizing how gender and race fit within different structures of social relations we are better able to identify and combat forms of systematic injustice.Although the central essays of the book focus on a critical social realism about gender and race, these accounts function as case studies for a broader critical social realism. To develop this broader approach,
several essays offer reworked notions of ideology, practice, and social structure, drawing on recent research in sociology and social psychology. Ideology, on the proposed view, is a relatively stable
set of shared dispositions to respond to the world, often in ways that also shape the world to evoke those very dispositions. This looping of our dispositions through the material world enables the social to appear natural. Additional essays in the book situate this approach to social phenomena in relation to philosophical methodology, and to specific debates in metaphysics, epistemology, and philosophy of language. The book as a whole explores the interface between
analytic philosophy and critical theory.

Review Text

"Professor's Haslanger's book provides the definitive account of what 'social construction' amounts to and what work it can do. I do not exaggerate. The idea of social construction is such an overworked trope, especially in literary and critical theory circles, that it seems to have lost much of its content. Contemporary usage tends to be sloppy and confused. Professor Haslanger's chapters on this subject are models of analytical rigor, while also accessible to
a much wider audience than metaphysicians alone."--Elizabeth Anderson, Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan
"Haslanger's book contains thoughtful and innovative essays in the field of social construction." -- Philosophy in Review

Review Quote

"Prof. Haslanger's book provides the definitive account of what 'social construction' amounts to and what work it can do. I do not exaggerate. The idea of social construction is such an overworked trope, especially in literary and critical theory circles, that it seems to have lost much of its content. Contemporary usage tends to be sloppy and confused. Professor Haslanger's chapters on this subject are models of analytical rigor, while also accessible to a much wider audience than metaphysicians alone."--Elizabeth Anderson, Department of Philosophy, University of Michigan

Feature

Selling point: Author is a well-known and well-respected feminist philosopher
Selling point: The volume collects Haslanger's essays on social construction for the first time
Selling point: Haslanger provides a new introduction that draws connections among and provides context for her essays

New Feature

Introduction I. Social Construction 1. "Social Construction: Myths and Reality" 2. "On Being Objective and Being Objectified." 3. "Ontology and Social Construction." 4. "Social Construction: The "Debunking" Project." 5. "Feminism and Metaphysics: Negotiating the Natural." 6. "Family, Ancestry and Self: What is the Moral Significance of Biological Ties?" 7. "Gender and Race: (What) Are They? (What) Do We Want Them To Be?" 8. "Future Genders? Future Races?" 9. "You Mixed? Racial Identity without Racial Biology." 10. "A Social Constructionist Analysis of Race" 11. "Oppressions: Racial and Other" III. Language and Knowledge 12. "What Knowledge Is and What It Ought To Be: Feminist Values and Normative Epistemology" 13. "What Are We Talking About? The Semantics and Politics of Social Kinds" 14. "What Good Are Our Intuitions? Philosophical Analysis and Social Kinds" 15. "But Mom, Crop-Tops Are Cute!" 16. "Language, Politics and 'The Folk': Looking for the 'Meaning' of Race " 17. "Ideology, Generics, and Common Ground"

Details