Cornell University Press The Play of Reason: From the Modern to the Postmodern (Greenwood Press Literature in)

This volume brings together for the first time the highly influential essays, many of them classics, of one of the most prominent scholars in social philosophy and feminist theory. These essays provide a compelling view of many of the major trends in social theory over the past fifteen years―trends that Linda Nicholson herself helped to shape. The Play of Reason examines the legacies of modernity in contemporary political, social, and feminist thought and the unraveling of these legacies in postmodern times. Linda Nicholson first focuses on the tension in modern social theory between attempts to recognize change and diversity and struggles to capture such change in overarching frameworks of meaning and value. She illuminates the consequences of these conflicting tendencies in relation to Marxism, feminist theory, and classical liberal accounts of the family and the state. Nicholson then asks how theory and the resolution of difference are possible after such overarching frameworks are abandoned. She shows how a pragmatic understanding of theory answers widespread fears about relativism. The Play of Reason is a powerful demonstration of a politically engaged social theory. Review These important essays would serve well to introduce graduate students to some key issues in political theory that emerged in the United States from 1980 to 1999. The historical insights are especially relevant for those engaged in the history of modern political thought and its connection to postmodern concerns... Certainly, political theorists will want to have this volume, as it offers ready access to the important contributions Linda Nicholson has made to political theory.-- "American Political Science Review" About the Author Linda Nicholson is Susan E. and William P. Stiritz Distinguished Professor of Women's Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. She is also the author of Gender and History: The Limits of Social Theory in the Age of the Family.