Higher Ground: From Utopianism to Realism in American Feminist Thought and Theory

Sally Kitch (chair of the Women's Studies dept. at Ohio State University) has also written several other books relating to utopias (e.g., THIS STRANGE SOCIETY OF WOMEN: READING THE LETTERS AND LIVES OF THE WOM (The Helen Hooven Santmyer Prize in Women's Studies)). In the Foreward by Catharine Stimpson (author of books such as Women and the American City), she summarizes, "Because Kitch has come to doubt utopianism, the fact of its pervasiveness in feminist action, theory, and pedagogy deeply concerns her." Kitch begins by stating, "Feminists love a utopia. At least many of us do. And why not? In order to think about feminist ideas and goals, we are almost forced, like utopian planners, to imagine societies that have never existed." But she adds, "I remain fascinated with utopian designs in both experimental communities and fiction, but I no longer consider utopianism the best approach for conceptualizing feminist social change, and I no longer consider feminist utopian fiction or designs the primary sources of responsible and constructive feminist theory." Her thesis is that "without utopianism, feminism becomes a richer and more dynamic system of thought. It allows the continual interplay of simultaneously held but diverse and sometimes contradictory 'truths' about women's lives and the concept of gender, gender differences, equality in the face of difference ... and scores of similar contingencies." This book will be of considerable interest to those interested in women's studies and utopian studies.