Judith Butler

One of the most talked-about scholarly works of the past fifty years, Judith Butler’s Gender Trouble is as celebrated as it is controversial. Arguing that traditional feminism is wrong to look to a natural, 'essential' notion of the female, or indeed of sex or gender, Butler starts by questioning the category 'woman' and continues in this vein with examinations of 'the masculine' and 'the feminine'. Best known however, but also most often misinterpreted, is Butler's concept of gender as a reiterated social performance rather than the expression of a prior reality. Thrilling and provocative, few other academic works have roused passions to the same extent.

Judith Butler je profesorkou na Kalifornskej univerzite v Berkeley. Teoreticky sa venuje problematike moci, rodu, sexuality, jazyka a identity. Kniha Trampoty s rodom významným spôsobom ovplyvnila myslenie nielen v akademických kruhoch, ale aj v iných štruktúrach spoločnosti.Autorka knihy Judith Butler je „dnes, dvadsaťštyri rokov od prvého vydania knihy Trampoty s rodom, intelektuálkou globálneho významu. Svedčí to o troch veciach: Po prvé, že problematika rodu sa stala predmetom záujmu v mnohých nových prostrediach, nepatriacich do tradičných vládnucich centier produkcie poznania, a to tak z disciplinárneho,ako aj geografického hľadiska. Po druhé, že myslenie autorky sa sústreďuje na otázky ľudskej existencie v širokom význame, no najmä vo chvíľach, keď ľudským bytostiam hrozí neexistencia. Po tretie, že sa Butler usiluje o také sprostredkovanie svojich postojov a argumentov, ktoré je zrozumiteľné v rôznych kontextoch." „Tí, pre ktorých pojem rod symbolizuje úhlavného nepriateľa, pochopili vlastne jeho význam celkom dobre. Áno, pojem rod signalizuje, že ženami a mužmi sa stávame a že činiteľov, ktoré môžu vstupovať do tohto procesu, je nepreberné množstvo. A môže dôjsť aj k tomu, že mužmi a ženami sa staneme inak, než to niektorý z pôsobiacich činiteľov zamýšľal. Zdá sa, akoby predstavy o stabilite mužskosti a ženskosti nehovorili len o častiach našich životov ako o životoch mužov a o životoch žien. Zastupujú niečo viac. Ich nekonfliktné vzájomné dopĺňanie je zobrazením harmónie a poriadku vo svete vôbec. Ich narušenie tak podrýva istú predstavu o svete a v prebujnenej a zároveň úzkostnej obrazotvornosti tomuto svetu hrozí aj zánikom."

ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2024 ACCORDING TO THE TIMES, GUARDIAN, FINANCIAL TIMES, NEW STATESMAN, THE INDEPENDENT, THE SCOTSMAN, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, AND TIME Shouldn't we know what we're arguing about? From one of the most influential thinkers of our time, an enlightening, essential account of how a fear of gender is fuelling reactionary politics around the world Judith Butler, the ground-breaking philosopher whose work has redefined how we think about gender and sexuality, confronts the attacks on gender that have become central to right-wing movements today. Global networks have formed ‘anti-gender ideology movements’ dedicated to circulating a fantasy that gender is a dangerous threat to families, local cultures, civilization – and even ‘man’ himself. Inflamed by the rhetoric of public figures, this movement has sought to abolish reproductive justice, undermine protections against violence, and strip trans and queer people of their rights. But what, exactly, is so disturbing about gender? In this vital, courageous book, Butler carefully examines how ‘gender’ has become a phantasm for emerging authoritarian regimes, fascist formations and transexclusionary feminists, and the concrete ways in which this phantasm works. Operating in tandem with deceptive accounts of critical race theory and xenophobic panics about migration, the anti-gender movement demonizes struggles for equality and leaves millions of people vulnerable to subjugation. An essential intervention into one of the most fraught issues of our moment, Who's Afraid of Gender? is a galvanizing call to make a broad coalition with all those who struggle for equality and fight injustice. Imagining new possibilities for freedom and solidarity, Butler offers us an essentially hopeful work that is both timely and timeless.