TAYLOR-MADE - FEMINIST THEORY AND THE POLITICS OF IDENTITY

Two types of concerns about essentialism in feminist theory (DiQuinzio 1993) have produced skepticism about the term ''identity.'' Fearing t hat any construction of identity will entail imposition on women, nume rous authors have turned away from theories of identity and have sough t to build commonality among women in other ways: However, this paper argues that a non-exclusionary, non-reductionist, non-oppressive theor y of identity is crucial to the normative project of empowering women and valuing their unique voices. Charles Taylor's Sources of the Self offers such a theory, and has the additional benefit of offering a hig hly plausible account of selfhood, one with explanatory power that oth er theories lack.