Contemporary Korean Political Thought in Search of a Post-Eurocentric Approach by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 4740909
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic

Chapter 8 Western Feminism and Korean Feminism

Kim Hee-Kang

Introduction1

“In a sense, feminism has always existed,” writes Alison Jaggar (1983, 3) in the first sentence of her influential book, Feminist Politics & Human Nature, where she analyzes feminist theory through different categorizations. To summerize humane history as one of gender inequality and women’s oppression would likely be an exaggeration. Yet, it is probably not an exaggeration to say that women have experienced treatment unequal to that of men and have been sexually oppressed by men throughout human history. Women, whether consciously or not and whether collectively or not, have challenged the inequality and oppression that they have suffered in various ways. In fact, women’s resistance has been notable, extended, and systematic for the past 200 to 300 years. This resistance has followed two paths. One is through practical activism. The other is through the development of feminist theory.

This chapter focuses on the development of feminist theory, the second of these two paths.2 Feminist theorists focuses on the injustice of gender inequality and women’s oppression. They also perceive the necessity of challenging these issues through the development of feminist theory. In their theories, however, they present somewhat different opinions about how gender inequality originates, how to characterize women’s oppression, and what should take priority in confronting the injustice of gender inequality. This means that feminist theory is not a single theory. Rather, it is constituted by and developed through varied social, political, and cultural contexts in a specified history.

The purposes of this chapter are to examine the development of feminist theory in Western (in particular, U.K, and U.S.) academia and to suggest a positive insight for the development of future Korean feminist theory by examining the implications of Western feminism for Korean feminist scholarship. To do this, this chapter observes the theoretical flow of Western feminist discourse before and after the 1980s with respect to its methods, goals, and subject matter. It is argued here that Western feminist theory has gone through a methodological transition from “critique” to “construction,” a goal transition from “equality” to “liberty,” and a subject transition from “gender” to “social justice.” Moreover, by examining the theoretical implications of Western feminism, I aim to envision a possibility of Korean feminist theory situated in the Korean context. By reviewing Western feminist theory and discussing its implications for Korean feminist scholarship, I ultimately hope to contribute to the advancement of Korean feminism.

The Theoretical Transition of Western Feminism

Scholars of Korean feminism have shown a great interest in the study of Western feminist theory. Yet, their research on Western feminist theory has largely been limited to simply introducing such theory to Korean academia. For example, Alison Jaggar’s Feminist Politics & Human Nature (1983), Rosemarie Tong’s Feminist Thought (1995), and Josephine Donovan’s Feminist Theory: The Intellectual Traditions (1993) are among works that have been translated into Korean and popularly introduced to Korean academia. Feminist theory in these books is classified into various ideological positions, such as liberal, radical, Marxist, socialist, existentialist, and postmodern feminisms. Many

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