Feminist Social Thought brings together a set of introductory essays on the work of six of the best-known feminist ideologues of the twentieth century. The attempt is to summarize in some detail the work of Simone de Beauvoir, Betty Friedan, Kate Millett, Shulamith Firestone, Juliet Mitchell and Sheila Rowbotham. Given the scope of the thought and the fact that several books have been devoted to the analysis of each work, this is an arduous task, and one is bound to be disappointed if one is looking for an analytical or even critical approach. However, as stated in the preface, the book is intended as a textbook to be used as part of women’s studies programmes at the undergraduate and perhaps postgraduate levels, and in this it succeeds.While the ‘Introduction’ covers the socio-historical and political context of the writing, each chapter consists of brief biographical information and detailed summaries of the main books written by each writer.
March 2006, volume 30, No 3