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There is much debate within feminist theology about which construal of subjectivity and agency best promotes the feminist aim to promote justice and flourishing for humanity and the rest of creation. A growing number of feminist theologians argue for the need to dismiss modern construals of subjectivity and agency and adopt a poststructuralist framework. This article examines the poststructuralist concepts of subjectivity and agency according to criteria of how well they attend to the effects of severe bodily harm and how well they can provide theoretical resources to foster healing and recovery for persons traumatized by child sexual abuse.
There is much debate within feminist theology about which construal of subjectivity and agency best promotes the feminist aim to promote justice and flourishing for humanity and the rest of creation. A growing number of feminist theologians argue for the need to dismiss modern construals of subjectivity and agency and to adopt a poststructuralist framework.1 Do the advantages of this strategy outweigh its disadvantages? And is this project practically feasible?
The purpose of this article is to examine the poststructuralist concepts of subjectivity and agency according to the dual criteria of how well they attend to the effects of severe bodily harm and how well they can provide theoretical resources to foster healing and recovery for persons traumatized by child sexual abuse. Although great diversity is found among feminist theologians concerning oppression and construals of the self and agency, feminists are united in their concern with the concrete well-being of women and children and their liberation from the complex dimensions of oppression. It would seem reasonable, then, that these two criteria are relevant when evaluating the adequacy of philosophical conceptions of subjectivity and agency, especially in light of the prevalence of traumatic violence directed at women and children in our society today.
Among poststructuralist feminist theorists, Judith Butler has been at the forefront at least since 1990, when she published Gender Trouble. Consistently problematizing long-held assumptions about sex, gender, and the relationship between discourse and the materiality of the body, she is undoubtedly a gifted, creative thinker, and her provocative work forms a small canon of required reading for anyone interested in working at the intersection of feminist theory and theology. Because it is...