Sex and Social Justice - Tapa dura

Hard-hitting, in Nussbaum's characteristic take-no-prisoners style, setting out a clear case that women endure ignominious oppression in the name of culture and religion, and that feminists and liberals alike should tolerate it no longer ... well written and an easy read ... this is a good book for those who want an introduction to, or survey of, Nussbaum's recent thinking on popular issues. (American Political Science Review)

What emerges is a new version of feminism capable of articulating theories of both national and global justice ... the detailed analyses which the book provides do present a vast resource of information on global issues of religion, practices of circumcision and homosexuality. (Years Work in Critical Cultural Theory)

Erudite collection of essays ... For Nussbaum, liberalism and feminism are indivisible, and her essays elegantly resolve many of the problems this has appeared to present ... Like all good liberal philosophy, Sex and Social Justice manages to inspire even as it confronts awesome injustice. (Decca Aitkenhead, The Guardian, Saturday Review)

In these essays we get Nussbaum at her best. (Ben Rogers, Financial Times)

Writing with the rigorous argument and generous insight that characterizes all her work, Martha Nussbaum in these essays articulates a distinctive conception of feminism, one rooted in the liberal tradition of political thought but responsive to radical feminist critiques of this tradition.

Growing out of her years of work with an international development agency connected with the United Nations, the book charts a feminism that is deeply concerned with global justice and with the urgent needs of women who live in hunger and illiteracy, or under inherently unequal legal systems. Nussbaum contends that the liberal tradition holds rich resources for addressing these problems provided it transforms itself by responsiveness to feminist arguments concerning the social shaping of preferences and institutions. Nussbaum also takes on the pursuit of social justice in the sexual sphere, dedicating several chapters to the issue of equal rights for lesbians and gay men. Further chapters consider the feminist concept of objectification and argue for the importance of sympathy and mercy within a feminist conception of justice. Clear, timely, and accessible, these essays, extensively revised where previously published, make available to a wide audience the incisive political reflections of one of our most important living philosophers.