The Politics of Reading | CU Experts

Abstract; This chapter argues that disciplinary reading practices structure which texts and ideas are taken seriously in political theory. Specifically, it identifies a “two track” reading practice in which political theorists read texts classified as political theory, while feminists read texts classified as feminist theory—with relatively few scholars reading across these tracks. The chapter illustrates this dynamic through an analysis of the reception of two books by Iris Marion Young published in 1990: Justice and the Politics of Difference and Throwing Like a Girl. Book reviews and citation patterns reveal that these works have been taken up by distinct readerships. Such tracked reading produces what the chapter terms a “dual systems” interpretation of Young, one that assumes that her political theory can be detached from her feminism. Repurposing Young’s critique of dual systems theory in socialist feminism, the chapter shows how this mode of reception reinforces an intellectual division of labor in which feminist analysis is treated as optional or supplementary to political theory. It offers a counter-reading that demonstrates how Young’s substantive arguments and methodological approach are consistently shaped by socialist feminism across both books—and indeed across her broader corpus. The chapter concludes by calling for scholarly practices that resist dual systems thinking and cultivate deeper, more reciprocal engagement across these two tracks.

VIVO