Nancy Hirschmann, Ph.D.
njh@sas.upenn.edu
University of Pennsylvania
Phone: 2158985656
Address: Ronald O. Perelmen Center for Political Science and Economics 133 S. 36th St
City: Philadelphia - 19104
Country: Guam (USA)
About Me:
I have worked for over 30 years in the areas of gender politics with an emphasis on feminist theory, including domestic violence, public assistance ("welfare"), pornography, veiling, women and democracy, gender and disability, disablity theory more inclusively, poverty and class structure, the history of political thought, women and presidential politics, marriage and family policy, the politics of care. I have published three monographs, six edited volumes, and scores of articles in journals and books. Currently I am writing a book on the idea of freedom from the perspective of disability.
Research Interests
Political Theory
Gender and Politics
Health Politics and Policy
Freedom
Sexual Division Labor
Disability
History Of Feminisms
History Of Philosophy
Ethics
Countries of Interest
United States
Italy
My Research:
Nancy Hirschmann is a professor of political science and gender studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where she has been Director of Gender, Sexuality and Women's Studies, vice chair and graduate chair of the department of political science. She has also served as vice president of the American Political Science Association. Her mongraphs include Rethinking Obligation: A Feminsit Method for Political Theory; The Subject of Liberty: Toward a Feminist Theory of Freedom; and Gender, Class and Freedom in Modern Political Theory. She is currently working on the book Freedom, Power and Disability. She has also published articles in the American Political Science Review, Political Theory, Perspectives on Politics, Hypatia, and many others. Her co-edited books include Revisioning the Political: Feminist Reconstructions of Traditional Concepts in Western Political Theory; Women and Welfare: Theory and Practice in the U.S. and Europe; Civil Disabilities: Citizenship, Membership, and Belonging; Political Theory and Disability; Feminist Interpretations of John Locke; Feminist Interpretations of Thomas Hobbes. She has held fellowships from the National Humanities Center, the Institute for Advanced Study, the American Council of Learned Societies, the National Endowment for the Humanities, THe Center for Human Values, and is currently a Fernand Braudel Senior Fellow at the European University Institute.
Publications:
Journal Articles:
This articles treats Diderot's "Letter on the Blind" from the perspective of disability, politics and power
Views Mary Wollstonecraft as developing a theory of freedom, rather than equality
Critique of sexual division of labor and Susan Okin's proposal to split the paycheck of the primary earner.
Critiques the idea of disability rights as too indebted to the idea of justice, arguing instead for shifting to a concept of disability freedom.
Examines the role of fear in shaping discrimination against disabled persons and LGBTQ persons.
Argues that feminism needs to pay more attention to disability issues.
critique of "choice feminism" and younger feminists who fail to understand the political significance of making certain kinds of choices. Particular focus on U.S. presidential election.
Critique of women who choose to be fulltime wives and mothers, with special attention to the sexual division of labor
public policies concerning welfare and the sexual division of labor
Compares US welfare policy to seventeenth century poor laws.
Looks at the practice of veiling in terms of the idea of freedom.
Considers tensions between western understandings of freedom and Islamic practices of veiling
Books Written:
A collection of essays on a range of disabilities understood from a political perspective.
Collection of essays from different disciplines on the citizenship status of persons with disabilities
Examines how class is used to define gender in the history of political theory and in Europe in the 17th 18th and 19th centuries
Looks at the idea of freedom through women's experiences of domestic violence, welfare reform, and Islamic veiling.
Essays on welfare policy in the US and Europe.
Book Chapters:
Considers the idea of "curing" from the perspective of disability and the surrounding controversies.
Other:
Considers family leave policies and their impact on the sexual division of labor in the US and Europe