Feminism and Habermasian Theory
Some of the most interesting and satisfying critiques of Habermas have
come from feminists, who share his commitment to the explication of power,
knowledge, and morality, but differ (in varing degrees) with him on the
issues of universal pragmatics,
and Enlightenment-inspired modernity. In her introduction to Feminists
Read Habermas: Gendering the Subject of Discourse, Johanna Meehan notes:
Habermasian theory stands squarely in a tradition
of Englightenment-inspired political theory and
deontological ethics which many feminists
have thoroughly rejected.
The critics represented in the volume resist much of Habermas's restoration of Engligtenment philosophy, at the same time amplifying much of his program concerning ethics, morality, and discursive norms. Other feminist responses to this project take a similar direction. While she does not address Habermas directly, feminist and psychoanalyst Jane Flax outlines the central critique of Enlightenment from a feminist perspective:
A central promise of Enlightenment and
Western modernity is that conflicts between knowledge and
power can be overcome by grounding claims
to and the exercise of authority in reason.
Reason both represents and embodies truth.
It partakes of universality in two additional ways: it operates
identically in each subject and it can grasp
laws that are objectively true; that is, are equally knowable
and binding on every person. This set of beliefs
generates one of the foundational antinomies in Enlightenment
thinking--superstition/domination verus knowledge/freedom
(emancipation).
("The End of Innocence," Feminists Theorize the Political
447).