Università Roma Tre

Week 1
Introduction and description of the course.
Methodology.

- Joan Scott, Gender: a Useful Category of Historical Analysis, in , 1, V, 1986, pp. 1053 – 1075
- Wendy Brown, Where is the Sex in Political Theory? In , 7, no. 1 1987
- Karen Offen, Defining Feminism: a Comparative Historical Approach, in , vol. 14, n. 11, 1988, pp. 119-157

Ancient Greece: Plato and Aristotle.

- Susan Moller Okin, Plato and the Greek Tradition of Misogyny, in Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1992,
- Susan Moller Okin, Philosopher Queens and Private Wives, in Women in Western Political Thought
- Susan Moller Okin, Female Nature and Social Structure, in Women in Western Political Thought
- Susan Moller Okin, Woman’s Place and Nature in a Functionalist World, in Women in Western Political Thought





Week 2
Women in medieval thought and early modern European thought
The Church Fathers: St. Augustine
St. Thomas Aquinas: Women’s place in nature
Deconstructing gender in Machiavelli


- Diana Coole, Women in Medieval Thought: Transitions from Antiquity to the Renaissance, in Women in Political Theory, Lynne Rienner Publisher, 1993
- Zillah Eisenstein, The Historical Continuity of Patriarchy, from The Radical
Future of Liberal Feminism, Northeastern University Press, 1993, Chapter 2
- Hanna Pitkin, Fortune is a Woman. Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccolò Machiavelli, University of California Press, 1984, chapters 2,3,4,5,6
- Joan Kelly, Did Women Have a Renaissance?, from Joan Kelly, Women, History and Theory, University of Chicago Press, 1984, ch. 7


Week 3
- Protofeminism in Venice(XVI -XVII centuries)
- Natural rights against natural authority
- Thomas Hobbes against the Aristotelian model
- John Locke against patriarchy
- Margaret Cavendish (1632-1637)
- Diana Coole, Women in Political Theory, chapter 4
- Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract, Stanford University Press, 1988, chapters 1, 4, 6



Week 4
The State of Nature and Reconstructing a Masculinized Republic: Rousseau
Vindicating the Rights of Women: Mary Wollstonecraft
Liberal Feminism: John Stuart Mill
- Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought, chapters 5, 6, 7
- Penny Weiss and Ann Harper, Rousseau Political Defense of Sex-Roled Family, from Feminist interpretations of Jean Jacques Rousseau, edited by Linda Lange, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002
- Mary Wollstonecraft, excerpt from A Vindication of the Rights of Women, in The Feminist Papers, edited by Alice Rossi, pp. 40-85
- John Stuart Mill, excerpt from The Subjection of Women, in The Feminist Papers, edited by Alice Rossi, pp.196-238
- Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought, chapter



Week 5
Constructing Liberal Feminism in the US: The 19th Century Women’s Rights Movement
Contemporary feminist perspectives on patriarchy: sexual difference feminism and egalitarian feminism.
Movie: “Suffragette”.


- Alice Rossi, Introduction: Social Roots of the Woman’s Movement in America, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 241- 281
- From Abolition to Sex Equality: Sarah Grimké (1792-1837) and Angelina Grimké (1805-1879), in The Feminist Papers, pp. 306-322
- Excerpt from the History of Woman Suffrage, in The Feminist Papers, Seneca Falls Convention, pp. 413-421
- Virginia Woolf, excerpt from A Room of One’s Own, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 627-652
- Simone de Beauvoir, excerpt from The Second Sex, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 674-70



Week 6
- Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?, edited by Susan Moller Okin, Princeton University Press, 1999
In class debate

Week 1
Introduction and description of the course.
Methodology.

- Joan Scott, Gender: a Useful Category of Historical Analysis, in , 1, V, 1986, pp. 1053 – 1075
- Wendy Brown, Where is the Sex in Political Theory? In , 7, no. 1 1987
- Karen Offen, Defining Feminism: a Comparative Historical Approach, in , vol. 14, n. 11, 1988, pp. 119-157



Week 2
Ancient Greece: Plato and Aristotle.

- Susan Moller Okin, Plato and the Greek Tradition of Misogyny, in Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought, Princeton University Press, 1992,
- Susan Moller Okin, Philosopher Queens and Private Wives, in Women in Western Political Thought
- Susan Moller Okin, Female Nature and Social Structure, in Women in Western Political Thought
- Susan Moller Okin, Woman’s Place and Nature in a Functionalist World, in Women in Western Political Thought



Week 3
Women in medieval thought.
The Church Fathers: St. Augustine
St. Thomas Aquinas: Women’s place in nature

- Diana Coole, Women in Medieval Thought: Transitions from Antiquity to the Renaissance, in Women in Political Theory, Lynne Rienner Publisher, 1993
- Zillah Eisenstein, The Historical Continuity of Patriarchy, from The Radical
Future of Liberal Feminism, Northeastern University Press, 1993, Chapter 2




Week 4
Femininity and masculinity in early modern European thought. Deconstructing gender in Machiavelli


- Joan Kelly, Did Women Have a Renaissance?, from Joan Kelly, Women, History and Theory, University of Chicago Press, 1984, ch. 7
- Ian Maclean, The Renaissance Notion of Women, in , vol. 34, n. 2, Summer 1981, pp. 211-213
- Hanna Pitkin, Fortune is a Woman. Gender and Politics in the Thought of Niccolò Machiavelli, University of California Press, 1984, chapters 2,3,4,5,6


Week 5
Natural rights against natural authority
Thomas Hobbes against the Aristotelian model
John Locke against patriarchy

- Diana Coole, Women in Political Theory, chapter 4
- Carole Pateman, The Sexual Contract, Stanford University Press, 1988, chapters 1, 4, 6

Week 6
The State of Nature and Reconstructing a Masculinized Republic: Rousseau

- Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought, chapters 5, 6, 7
- Else Wiestad, Empowerment Inside Patriarchy: Rousseau and the Masculine Construction of Femininity, from Feminist interpretations of Jean Jacques Rousseau, edited by Linda Lange, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002
- Penny Weiss and Ann Harper, Rousseau Political Defense of Sex-Roled Family, from Feminist interpretations of Jean Jacques Rousseau, edited by Linda Lange, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002


Week 7
Vindicating the Rights of Women: Mary Wollstonecraft
Liberal Feminism: John Stuart Mill

- Mary Wollstonecraft, excerpt from A Vindication of the Rights of Women, in The Feminist Papers, edited by Alice Rossi, pp. 40-85
- John Stuart Mill, excerpt from The Sujection of Women, in The Feminist Papers, edited by Alice Rossi, pp.196-238
- Susan Moller Okin, Women in Western Political Thought, chapter 9







Week 8
Constructing Liberal Feminism in the US: The 19th Century Women’s Rights Movement


- Alice Rossi, Introduction: Social Roots of the Woman’s Movement in America, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 241- 281
- From Abolition to Sex Equality: Sarah Grimké (1792-1837) and Angelina Grimké (1805-1879), in The Feminist Papers, pp. 306-322
- Alice Rossi, Along the Suffrage Trail, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 407-412
- Excerpt from the History of Woman Suffrage, in The Feminist Papers, Seneca Falls Convention, pp. 413-421
- Akron Convention and Sojourner Truth, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 426-29

Week 9
Contemporary feminist perspectives on patriarchy.

- Virginia Woolf, excerpt from A Room of One’s Own, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 627-652
- Simone de Beauvoir, excerpt from The Second Sex, in The Feminist Papers, pp. 674-705