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Stacy Gillis , Gillian Howie and Rebecca Munford, editors; Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke/New York, 2004, ISBN: 1-4039-1821-X
£55.00 (Hbk)
In their succinct introduction, Gillis, Howie and Munford emphasize their desire to offer a critical exploration of third wave feminism, considering its complexities, possibilities and limitations. Their project is vital, and somewhat controversial, in an academic context in which third-wave feminism has generated widespread anxiety and hostility. Feminists aligning themselves with the second wave, in particular, have been quick to dismiss the purported emergence of a third wave.
The editors hope to enable constructive dialogue between feminists from a wide range of perspectives, bridging 'the cultural economies of third-wave feminism' and 'the epistemologies of contemporary academic feminism' (p. 3). Indeed, the ways in which many of the essays can be read in conversation with each other make the volume particularly cohesive and engaging. Such dialogue is crucial, the editors argue, to exploring questions relating to ownership of the movement and to interrogating divisive mother/daughter and academic/activist models.
Through critically exploring four main arenas of third-wave discourse, 'genealogies', 'sex and gender', 'popular culture' and 'challenges', the volume expands the range of concerns typically grouped as third wave. It also disrupts the common conflation of third-wave work with 'frivolous' pop culture commentary. A key critical...