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Liberal Rights Theory and Social Inequality: A Feminist Critique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2020

Lisa Schwartzman
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Abstract

Liberal rights theory can be used either to challenge or to support social hierarchies of power. Focusing on Ronald Dworkin's theory of rights and Catharine MacKinnon's feminist critique of liberalism, I identify a number of problems with the way that liberal theorists conceptualize rights. 1 argue that rights can be used to challenge oppressive practices and structures only if they are defined and employed with an awareness and critique of social relations of power.

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Type
Research Article
Information
Hypatia , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , Spring 1999 , pp. 26 - 47
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by Hypatia, Inc.

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