graphical, literary, theoretical and historical texts,

questioning the validity of conventional demarca-

tions. This amalgamation of discourses leads the

reader to ponder various social, political, and textual

issues, such as the complicated aspects of sisterhood,

the intricate practices of women’s oppression, the

complex faces of colonialism, and the boundaries

between genres.

Tamar Hager

The Academic College of Tel Hai,

11 Modeliani Street, Tel Aviv, Israel

PII: S0277-5395(02)00252-2

RADICAL FEMINISM TODAY, by Denise Thompson,

165 pages. SAGE Publications Inc, Thousand Oaks,

California, 2001. No price indicated.

Radical Feminism Today is a lengthy rumination

on the meaning of feminism, an attentive look, from

the author’s point of view, at what feminism is and is

not. Australian feminist Denise Thompson has

sharply defined views of what feminism is. For one

thing, it is radical feminism or it is not feminism at

all. Defining radical feminism as ‘‘the struggle

against male supremacy and the struggle for a human

status for women identifying as women,’’ her account

is helpful for those seeking careful elucidation of

problems with other definitions and usages. Accord-

ing to Thompson, terms such as sexist oppression,

gender, patriarchy, women’s experience, difference,

and race, class and gender oppression are none of

them adequate to express the central feminist oppo-

sition to male domination.

She argues for the importance of the concept of

ideology in helping to understand that power lies in

meaning, which is logically prior to truth. This

insight helps to reinforce the notion that feminism

is, among other things, a moral theory and practice.

In fact, it could be this insight which motivates

Thompson to her advocacy of universalism, a prob-

lematic and complicated claim. Thompson insists on

the logical priority of male supremacy to other forms

of oppression, and it is just this sort of claim that led

to some of the more contentious and unfruitful

periods in the development of second wave feminist

thought characterized in the1980s by shouting

matches about the primacy of oppressions. She jus-

tifies her approach by resorting to general claims

about feminism and human dignity, but is the asser-

tion about primacy a necessary component of femi-

nism as a moral theory?

The book is less successful when it addresses the

claims, especially by U.S. black feminists, that the

movement has at times been racist. By adhering to

the definitional approach that stays strictly attentive

to issues of (all) women’s humanity, Thompson

attempts to show that the movement could not be

sexist. But by failing to engage not just with the

definitional but also with the substantive problems,

she avoids legitimate criticisms made by black fem-

inist theorists. For example, the idea of shifting or

multiple oppressions is generally far more central to

the experiences of black women than of white, and

while experience alone cannot be the defining deter-

minate of what feminism is (as Thompson points

out), creating theory that resonates with and comes

out of the experiences of black women has to be

central to the feminist project. Further, a focus on the

posited universal character of feminism as a moral

theory obscures important particulars, for example,

the fact that some early Second Wave white feminists

tended to universalize the family as a locus of

oppression when for many U.S. black women, the

added dimension of racism made the family a place

that at least could be relatively safer than a mascu-

linist and racist society at large. In addition, by

focusing on work outside the home as a source of

liberation, white feminism obscured the fact that

most black women had always worked outside the

home and that sexual and reproductive exploitation

under white male supremacy had radically different

dimensions for black women than for white. These

particulars have important activist implications.

When the segments of the white feminist movement

obscured them by universalizing their own experi-

ences, there were serious negative ramifications for

the lives of black women.

The tension between the perceived need for a

universal feminist moral theory, as advocated by

Martha Nussbaum, Susan Moller Okin, and Thomp-

son and the demand for more particularization by

writers as diverse as Elizabeth Spelman, Judith But-

ler, Nancy Fraser and Linda Nicholson, and Chandra

Mohanty, to name just a few of those theorists whose

work is examined in Thompson’s book, in some ways

encapsulates the theoretical problems facing femi-

nists today. But strange as it seems, while some

feminists in different camps slug it out over the

ancient dilemma of the one and the many, confer-

ences like the 1995 Beijing UN Conference on

Women demonstrate that there is surprising agree-

ment even among women from vastly different social

locations about issues of priority—violence, educa-

Book Reviews 385

tion, health, poverty, and reproductive control. This

suggests that while it is important to be very clear

about theoretical and definitional matters, an activist

approach requires that focusing on differences of

opinion about what constitutes feminism should only

be accomplished with equal doses of a theoretical call

for a common humanity and an activist’s focus on

understanding how particular issues fit into that

general frame.

Thompson’s focus on feminism as a moral theory,

on women’s demand for humanity in the face of male

supremacy is vital and requires the kind of single

minded attention that she gives to it. Her discussion

of the work of Edward Said and Franz Fanon has

fascinating insights about ideology, male domina-

tion, and post-colonial theory. Her demand that any

analysis of oppression takes male supremacy into

primary consideration is an important antidote to

persistent and pervasive failures to provide a feminist

analysis of current issues and events. This book will

prove very helpful to those interested in untangling

some of the ideological and moral, as well as defini-

tional knots.

Kristin Waters

Worcester State College,

486 Chandler Street,

Worcester, MA 01602, USA

PII: S0277-5395(02)00253-4

Book Reviews386