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Precarity and Resistance: A Critique of Martha Fineman's Vulnerability Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2021

Benjamin P. Davis  and
Eric Aldieri
Benjamin P. Davis*
Affiliation:
Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto, 15 Devonshire Place, Toronto, OntarioCanada and Department of Philosophy, DePaul University, 2352 North Clifton Ave. Suite 130, Chicago, Illinois60614
Eric Aldieri*
Affiliation:
Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto, 15 Devonshire Place, Toronto, OntarioCanada and Department of Philosophy, DePaul University, 2352 North Clifton Ave. Suite 130, Chicago, Illinois60614
*
Corresponding authors. Email ben.davis@utoronto.ca and ealdieri@depaul.edu
Corresponding authors. Email ben.davis@utoronto.ca and ealdieri@depaul.edu
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Abstract

Contemporary feminist theory by and large agrees on criticizing the traditional, autonomous subject and instead maintains a relational, dependent self, but the vocabulary used to describe the latter remains contested. These contestations are seen in comparing the approach of some feminist legal theory, as demonstrated by Martha Fineman, to the approach of some feminist theory that draws on continental philosophy, as demonstrated by Judith Butler. Fineman's concept of vulnerability emphasizes the universality of vulnerability in the human condition, arguing that a “responsive state” is most conducive to producing subjects who are “resilient” in the face of neoliberal pressures. We argue that vulnerability, as an existential as opposed to a political description, is a limited rubric under which to organize against neoliberal forces. Further, we contend that Fineman's rhetoric of resilience risks reiterating a neoliberal logic of individualized self-management. In response, we look to Butler's concept of precarity, which underscores particular social conditions, as opposed to universal ontological vulnerabilities, that debilitate certain subjects. At stake is how we respond to neoliberal forces today: a vocabulary of precarity poses a more effective challenge than one of vulnerability, for it opens onto not merely individual or institutional resilience but grounded, communal resistance.

Type
Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , Spring 2021 , pp. 321 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Hypatia, a Nonprofit Corporation

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