Books by Libertarian Feminists
Reclaiming the Mainstream: Individualist Feminism Rediscovered by Joan Kennedy Taylor
Prometheus Press, 1992
From the book:
This book argues that modern feminism grew out of the 19th-century Woman Movement which, like much late 19th-century thinking, became a battleground between individualist and collectivist ideas. When individualist ideals predominated in this movement—ideals of independence, social mobility, even sexual freedom—it gained wide adherence. But when the movement supported collectivist ideas of social reform, it became more marginal and sectarian. It was a focus on the individual woman's rights and happiness that reinvented feminist movements twice in our history, in the decades from 1910 to the New Deal and then again in the late 1960's. Reclaiming the Mainstream examines this history, gives an overview of the contemporary scene, and analyses the campaign to pass and ratify an equal rights amendment—and its failure. The book also discusses contemporary policy issues that affect women: affirmative action and comparable worth; rape, battering, sexual harassment, and incest; the many facets of sexual and reproductive choice; and the attempts to unify feminist and non-feminist women against pornography or in support of social feminist issues.TO BUY: Click here for Laissez Faire Books; click here for Amazon
Exquisite Rebel: The Essays of Voltairine de Cleyre edited by Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell
State University of New York Press, 2005
From the the SUNY Press catalog:
2005 CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title Award: Brings the writings of de Cleyre out of undeserved obscurity. Emma Goldman called Voltairine de Cleyre "the most gifted and brilliant anarchist woman America ever produced." Yet her writings and speeches on anarchism and feminism—radical, passionate, and popular at the time as Goldman's—are virtually unknown today. This important book brings de Cleyre's eloquent and incisive work out of undeserved obscurity. Twenty–one essays are reprinted here, including her classic works: "Anarchism and the American Tradition," "The Dominant Idea," and "Sex Slavery." Three biographical essays are also included: two new ones by Sharon Presley and Crispin Sartwell, and a rarely reprinted one from Emma Goldman. At a time when the mainstream women's movement asked only for the right to vote and rarely challenged the status quo, de Cleyre demanded an end to sex roles, called for economic independence for women, autonomy within and without marriage, and offered a radical critique of the role of the Church and State in oppressing women. In today's world of anti–globalization actions, de Cleyre's anarchist ideals of local self–rule, individual conscience, and decentralization of power still remain fresh and relevant.
Click here for longer description.
TO BUY: Click here for copy inscribed by Sharon Presley; click here for Amazon
Freedom, Feminism and the State edited by Wendy McElroy
Independent Institute, 1991
From the Independent Institute catalog:
Mainstream feminism is nowadays intimately associated with demands for State intervention, as attested by campaigns for government-funded abortion, for laws mandating equal pay and outlawing sexual discrimination, for taxpayer-financed day care, and for legal and economic privileges for pregnant women. But feminism's roots are radically individualistic, anti–political, and anti–State. Arising out of the pre-Civil War anti–slavery movement, the early women's movement recognized clearly that government was the real obstacle preventing women from achieving freedom and equal rights. And despite the recent positions of many prominent feminists, today an increasing number of individualist feminists have become consistent foes of the State.
TO BUY: Click here for the Independent Institute; click here for Laissez Faire Books; click here for Amazon
Concerning Women by Suzanne LaFollette
Arno Press, 1972
From the book:
In this statement about the status of women in 1920's, LaFollette raised fundamental, disturbing questions about the battle for equality and the vote. That battle had been fought within a world shaped by men, with values they held dear, with goals they had set. It was a world of injustice and oppression, making a mockery out of equality. This book is an eloquent plea for consideration of the larger issues to which the status and progress of women are linked: war, the nature of work and economic justice.
[out of print; try college libraries]
What to Do When You Don't Want to Call the Cops: A Nonadversarial Approach to Sexual Harassment by Joan Kennedy Taylor [paperback title: Sexual Harassment: A Nonadversarial Approach]
New York University Press, 2002
From Amazon:
In Sexual Harassment, Joan Kennedy Taylor questions establishment assumptions that women are, by definition, passive victims who require government help. She not only summarizes present law and policies but illustrates various non-governmental methods of countering expressive behavior that is offensive but not truly harassing, including a new feminist approach to company training programs.
TO BUY: Click here for Amazon [both paper and hardcover available]; click here for the hardbound at Laissez Faire Books
Liberty for Women: Freedom and Feminism in the 21st Century edited by Wendy McElroy
Independent Institute, 2002
From the Independent Institute Catalog:
Rooted in the 19th century anti-slavery movement of abolitionism, individualist feminism is based upon the view that all human beings have a right to their own person and property. Individualist feminists consistently apply the principle of "a woman's body, a woman's right" to every issue that confronts women today. LIBERTY FOR WOMEN: Freedom and Feminism in the Twenty-first Century, edited by Wendy McElroy (Research Fellow, The Independent Institute) brings together the perspectives of eighteen scholars, lawyers and activists. Shedding light on topics as diverse as marriage, abortion, midwifery, pornography, prostitution, affirmative action, fetal contracts, sexual harassment, comparable worth, technology, armed self-defense and legal reform, LIBERTY FOR WOMEN presents a wealth of ideas and information to anyone interested in women and society.
For a longer description, click here for the Independent Institute listing
TO BUY: Click here for the Independent Institute; click here for Amazon; click here for Laissez Faire Books
Other Relevant Readings
Coming soon...
