Pragmatism and Normativity: Rethinking Criticism in the Debate Between Fraser and Benhabib

• Autor(a) principal: Moraes, Guilherme Cardoso de
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Mediações - Revista de Ciências Sociais
• Texto Completo: https://ojs.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/mediacoes/article/view/46078
• topic: Teoria Feminista; Teoria Crítica; Teoria Política; Nancy Fraser; Seyla Benhabib; feminist theory; critical theory; political theory; Nancy Fraser; Seyla Benhabib; Teoría feminista; Teoría Crítica; Teoría Política; Nancy Fraser; Seyla Benhabib

If the main interest of critical theory is for a society to be free of domination, the fundamental question is: who are the oppressed groups currently? Although there is no single answer, both Fraser and Benhabib accuse traditional critical theory of being blind to gender. Fraser formulates a conception of critical theory thought from the reconciliation between feminism and postmodernism: it is a politically and philosophically pragmatic and normatively weakened theory. The theoretical efforts undertaken by Benhabib seek to remedy the gender deficits of critical theory by reaffirming the importance and place that a political philosophy can take to think about the emancipation of women in a democratic society. Exploring these theoretical differences and similarities and their consequences for a feminist theory or a critical theory, two ideas amalgamated for both authors’ works, is the aim of this paper.