1st Edition

Staking a Claim Feminism, Bureaucracy and the State

210 Pages
by Routledge

210 Pages
by Routledge

First published in 1989, Staking a Claim brings feminist experience and social theory together to produce a systematic view of the State as an agent in sexual politics, thereby placing in question the nature of the State itself. The book approaches this task at two levels: an argument about the theory of the State and the social analysis of gender; and a set of case studies—childcare, equal... Read more

Introduction  Biographical note  Part 1: The state in sexual politics  1. The problem: seeing sexual politics and seeing the state  2. Current theories  3. A framework  Part 2: Case studies  4. Child care  5. Equal opportunity  6. Sexual violence  Part 3: Feminism and bureaucracy  7. The ‘femocrat’ strategy  8. Gains and losses or Where will it all end? Appendix: Di Court’s project

Biography

Suzanne Franzway is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at the University of South Australia. Her work is motivated by the puzzles and passions of the politics of everyday life and social justice. 

Dianne Court, feminist activist, unionist and teacher, died before she was able to complete a major project in the relationship between feminist theory, the women’s movement and the State.

R.W. Connell is Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney, and a Life Member of the National Tertiary Education Union. She is best known internationally for studies on masculinity. She was one of the founders of this research field.

Review of the first publication:

Staking a Claim is an important book. It is the first serious Australian attempt to investigate feminist engagements with 'the state', and to set this in a theoretical framework.’

McKenna, H F.,The Australian Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 25, Iss. 4