Categories We Live By: The Construction of Sex, Gender, Race, and Other Social Categories

by Ásta

We are women, we are men. We are refugees, single mothers, people with disabilities, and queers. We belong to social categories and they frame our actions, self-understanding, and opportunities. But what are social categories? How are they created and sustained? How does one come to belong to them?

Ásta approaches these questions through analytic feminist metaphysics. Her theory of social categories centers on an answer to the what is it for a feature of an individual to be socially meaningful? In a careful, probing investigation, she reveals how social categories are created and sustained and demonstrates their tendency to oppress through examples from current events. To this end, she offers an account of just what social construction is and how it works in a range of examples that problematize the categories of sex, gender, and race in particular. The main idea is that social categories are conferred upon people. Ásta introduces a 'conferralist' framework in order to articulate a theory of social meaning, social construction, and most importantly, of the construction of sex, gender, race, disability, and other social categories.

Genres: Philosophy, Feminism, Nonfiction, Gender, Sociology, Politics, History

156 pages, Hardcover

Published August 3, 2018

About the author

Ásta Kristjana Sveinsdóttir, who publishes as Ásta, is Professor of Philosophy at San Francisco State University. She works in feminist philosophy, metaphysics, and social philosophy and on related topics in epistemology and philosophy of language.

Reviews

[Kristján Diego]

Mæli með fyrir þá sem hafa áhuga á félagssmíðshyggju (e. social constructionism). Þriðji kafli er góður inngangur að heimspeki Butler og Beauvoir hvað varðar kyngervi og kyn.

[Topi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arvostin todella paljon Ástan selkeää ja helposti ymmärrettävää tapaa esittää argumenttinsa ja näkemyksensä, mikä tuntuu olevan suuri haaste analyyttisille filosofeille. Àsta luo todella mielenkiintoisen teorian sekä yleisesti sosiaalisista kategorioista että tarkemmin sukupuolesta, ja arvostin analyyttisen ja mannermaisen filosofian sekoittelua.

Kaiken kaikkiaan hyvää teoretisointia, mutta löytyy tästäkin teoksesta joitakin aukkoja

[lottie pike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book and gave me lots to think about regarding the construction of social statuses - I would really recommend it! It was also very clear to understand, which I appreciated.

[Bastián Olea Herrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una perspectiva fresca y directa hacia la pregunta: ¿qué es ser mujer? Para responder esto, se pasa por las preguntas sobre qué es una categoría social, quien las define, cómo se llega a ser categorizado en una de ellas. Todas estas inquietudes filosóficas son desarrolladas de manera dinámica mediante breves discusiones teóricas, donde la autora nos muestra su proceso analítico para llegar a sus conclusiones. A lo largo del libro se van presentando las herramientas o marcos teóricos para entender las categorías y las identidades, apoyándose en esquemas que transforman estas teorías en reglas o funciones, y también en extensos ejemplos al estilo de juegos o situaciones. Todo esto hace que una temática compleja se vuelva más accesible llevadera de entender, dado que se explica reiteradamente y se aplica a distintos estudios de caso.

[Katherine]

I disagree almost entirely with this, due to how little application or thought is sometimes put into the conferalist approach to sex/gender as applied to trans bodies, especially in regards to that of sex as a "one time conferral", and I've read on others that this is not limited just to the transsexual, but rather also to the intersectionality in regards to race. However, I do think it has valuable insight.

[brooklyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started off strong but lost its steam in the second half. Still a very good read