Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism

Toward a New Theory of the Political Subject

Claudia Leeb

Develops a new theoretical framework of the political subject-in-outline to advance current debates in political and feminist theorizing that aim to address the tensions inherent in the idea of the political subject.
Provides new insights on how to conceptualize the relationships between subject and object, theory and practice, the universal and the particular, and mind and body.
Applies the developed theoretical framework to rethink the feminist political subject and the working-class woman as a political subject.
Brings new thinkers in contemporary political and feminist theorizing (Marx, Adorno and Lacan) and explains their relevance for rethinking political subjectivity.

Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism

Toward a New Theory of the Political Subject

Claudia Leeb

Description

_{According to postmodern scholars, subjects are defined only through their relationship to institutions and social norms. But if we are only political people insofar as we are subjects of existing power relations, there is little hope of political transformation. To instigate change, we need to draw on collective power, but appealing to a particular type of subject, whether "working class," "black," or "women," will always be exclusionary. This issue is a particular problem for feminist scholars, who are frequently criticized for assuming that they can make broad claims for all women, while failing to acknowledge their own exclusive and powerful position (mostly white, Western, and bourgeois). Recent work in political and feminist thought has suggested that we can get} _{around these paradoxes by wishing away the idea of political subjects entirely or else thinking of political identities as constantly shifting. In this book, Claudia Leeb argues that these are both failed ideas. She instead suggests a novel idea of a subject in outline. Over the course of the book Leeb grounds this concept in work by Adorno, Lacan, and Marx - the very theorists who are often seen as denying the agency of the subject. Leeb also proposes that power structures that create political subjects are never all-powerful. While she rejects the idea of political autonomy, she shows that there is always a moment in which subjects can contest the power relations that define them.}

Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism

Toward a New Theory of the Political Subject

Claudia Leeb

1. Introduction
Part I: The Subject-in-Outline
2. The When of Socio-Political Transformation: The Moment of the Limit
3. Who Changes the World: The Political Subject in Outline
4. How to Transform the World: Rethinking Theory and Practice
5. What makes us Rebel: Suffering Reconsidered
Part II: Applications
6. Rejecting the Politics of (Mis-)Recognition: Butler Revisited
7. The Working-Class Woman and Marx: Biased Constructions
8. Disrupting the Fantasy: Adorno and the Working-Class Woman
9. Conclusion
Index

Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism

Toward a New Theory of the Political Subject

Claudia Leeb

Author Information

Claudia Leeb is Assistant Professor in the School of Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs at Washington State University, as well as Research Affiliate at the Center for European Studies, Harvard University.

Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism

Toward a New Theory of the Political Subject

Claudia Leeb

Reviews and Awards

2018 Austrian Scientists in North America (ASCINA) Junior Faculty Award

"Power and Feminist Agency manages to be simultaneously clear, comprehensive, and complexâ Leeb develops a new and more meaningful analysis that privileges a comparative anatomy of theoretical logics over and against a succession narrative. This is an analytical hierarchy worth endorsingâ Power and Feminist Agency stands on its own as a dazzling demonstration of dialectical reading that makes these questions-- what is capital? whither the feminist subject?-- both inextricable and newly urgent." -- Christopher Chamberlin, Hypatia

"a great and important book ... Leeb's notion of the subject-in-outline is a superb way to think about the subject and about the ways that she both is and is not constituted. One of her main arguments is that feminist theory has turned its back on psychoanalytical theory (especially the Lacanian variant) at its peril. Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism is certainly evidence that the turn to psychoanalysis is capable of producing remarkable clarity when it comes to questions of what underlies and constructs the actors in political life, as well as the unseen forces that connect and complicate their actions." -- Perspectives on Politics

"Leeb is an elegant, pellucid writer who demonstrates great talent in synthesizing complex ideas in order to explain her thesis. Her book makes a significant contribution to contemporary theory's debates regarding individual agency as she brings these conversations to a higher and more demanding level. Her excellent scholarship makes the book essential reading for anyone interested in Marxist thought, feminism, critical theory, and psychoanalysis." -Mary Caputi, Professor of Political Theory at California State University, Long Beach

"Claudia Leeb has written a critically fierce and urgent intervention into contemporary political theory defending the necessity and possibility of transformative agency against the depredations of capital domination. In a surprising synthesis, Leeb demonstrates how materials from Marx, Adorno, and Lacan can be joined into a potent idea of the political subject-in-outline. An important and welcome addition to the literature on political subjectivity." - J.M. Bernstein, Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, New School for Social Research

"Claudia Leeb's Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism is an ambitious and original book that breathes new life into long-standing debates about power, agency, and subjectivity in feminist political theory. Through the development of her novel conception of the political subject-in-outline and her insightful readings of Marx, Lacan, and Adorno, Leeb charts an exciting new course for feminist critical theory, one that moves productively past stale oppositions between Marxism and psychoanalysis and between the German and French critical theory traditions." -Amy Allen, Liberal Arts Research Professor of Philosophy and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Pennsylvania State University

"[A] great and important book... Leeb's notion of the subject-in-outline is a superb way to think about the subject and about the ways that she both is and is not constituted." - James Martel, Perspectives on Politics

[R]igorous and thoughtful... In Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism, Leeb reanimates the relationship among psychoanalysis, critical theory, and feminist theory." - Laurie E. Naranch, Political Theory

"[A] milestone in feminist thought [Leeb's] carefully crafted insights demonstrate that deep thought indeed speaks directly to real-world political concerns. With Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism, she thus offers a welcome contribution not only to feminist psychoanalytic and critical theories, but to the larger question of praxis as it seeks to resist and indeed dismantle capitalism's far-reaching reign." - Mary Caputi, Political Theory

"Claudia Leeb's Power and Feminist Agency in Capitalism is an original contribution to the fields of feminist, political, and critical theory. Bringing together diverse thinkers with the political urgency to challenge capitalist exploitation, particularly of working-class women, Leeb offers an argument for a novel view of political agency that she names 'the political subject-in-outline.'" - Laurie E. Naranch, Siena College, Politics & Gender

"Through rich theoretical analyses, especially of Lacan's and Adorno's works but also those of a multitude of other political and feminist thinkers, Leeb constructs sound foundations for these new theories and their productive application." - CHOICE