Introduction
Amy Allen (born October 14, 1970) is an American feminist philosopher and social theorist who has written on feminist theories of power, with attention to domination, resistance, and solidarity; on the theories of autonomy, subjection, and selfhood; and rearticulated the meaning of emancipation in response to postcolonial challenges to the idea of historical progress. In 2015, Allen became Liberal Arts Research Professor of Philosophy and Women’s and Gender Studies at The Pennsylvania State University after teaching at Dartmouth College for almost two decades, where she was the Parents Distinguished Research Professor.
The Power of Feminist Theory
Allen’s first monograph, The Power of Feminist Theory(1999), challenges the inadequacies of existing feminist theories of power and – underscoring the need in feminism for a satisfactory account of the term – constructs a theory of power that draws upon Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, and Hannah Arendt. Arguing that feminists...
References
Allen A (1998) Rethinking power. Hypatia 13(1):21–40
Allen A (2006) Dependency, subordination, and recognition: on Judith Butler’s theory of subjection. Cont Philos Rev 38:199–222
Allen A (2007) The politics of our selves: power, autonomy, and gender in contemporary critical theory. Columbia University Press, New York
Allen A (2016) The end of progress: decolonizing the normative foundations of critical theory. Columbia University Press, New York
Arendt H (1969) On violence. Harcourt Brace, New York, p 44
Benhabib S (1986) Critique, norm, and utopia: a study of the foundations of critical theory. Columbia University Press, New York
Benhabib S, Butler J, Cornell D, Fraser N (1994) Feminist contentions: a philosophical exchange. Routledge, New York
Butler J (1997) Excitable speech: toward a politics of the performative. Routledge, New York
Gilligan C (1982) In a different voice: psychological theory and Women’s development. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Held V (1993) Feminist morality: transforming culture, society, and politics. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
MacKinnon C (1987) Feminism unmodified. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Okin SM (1989) Justice, gender, and the family. Basic Books, New York
Pateman C (1988) The sexual contract. Stanford University Press, Stanford
Ruddick S (1989) Maternal thinking: toward a politics of peace. Ballantine, New York
Sawicki J (2002) Review: the power of feminist theory. Hypatia 17(1):222–226
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this entry
Cite this entry
Guilmette, L., Spera, R. (2018). Allen, Amy. In: Sellers, M., Kirste, S. (eds) Encyclopedia of the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_114-3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6730-0_114-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-6730-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-6730-0
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Law and CriminologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences