A Passion for Difference: Essays in Anthropology and Gender

by Henrietta L. Moore

In this new book Henrietta Moore examines the limitations of the theoretical languages used by anthropologists and others to write about sex, gender, and sexuality. Moore begins by discussing recent feminist debates on the body and the notion of the non-universal human subject. She then considers why anthropologists have contributed relatively little to these debates, suggesting that this reflects the history of anthropology's conceptualization of ""persons"" or ""selves"" cross-culturally. The author also pursues a series of related themes, including the links between gender, identity, and violence; the construction of domestic space and its relationship to bodily practices and the internalization of relations of difference; and the links between the gender of the anthropologist and the writing of anthropology. By developing a specific anthropological approach to feminist post-structuralist and psychoanalytic theory, Moore demonstrates anthropology's contribution to current debates in feminist theory.

Genres: Anthropology

186 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 1994

About the author

Henrietta L. Moore is a British social anthropologist. She is the William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Culture and Communications Programme at the Centre for the Study of Global Governance at the London School of Economics (LSE). Previously Moore was a Governor of the LSE; LSE Deputy Director for research and external relations 2002-2005, and served as the Director of the Gender Institute at the LSE from 1994-1999.