Parite!: Sexual Equality and the Crisis of French Universalism (Chicago Studies in the Practices of Meaning (CHUP)) (Chicago Studies in Practices of Meaning)

by Joan W. Scott

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France today is in the throes of a crisis about whether to represent social differences within its political system and, if so, how. It is a crisis defined by the rhetoric of a universalism that takes the abstract individual to be the representative not only of citizens but also of the nation. In "Parite!" Joan Wallach Scott shows how the requirement for abstraction has led to the exclusion of women from French politics. During the 1990s, le mouvement pour la parite successfully campaigned for women's inclusion in elective office with an argument that is unprecedented in the annals of feminism. The paritaristes insisted that if the abstract individual were thought of as sexed, then sexual difference would no longer be a relevant consideration in politics. Scott insists that this argument was neither essentialist nor separatist; it was not about women's special qualities or interests. Instead, parite was rigorously universalist - and for that reason was both misunderstood and a source of heated debate.
  • ISBN10 0226741087
  • ISBN13 9780226741086
  • Publish Date 1 December 2005
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint University of Chicago Press