Religion in French Feminist Thought: Critical Perspectives brings together some of the leading modern religious responses to major French feminist writings on religion. It considers central figures such as Hélène Cixous, Julia Kristeva, Luce Irigaray and Catherine Clément, and its focus on questions of divinity, subjectivity and ethics provides an accessible introduction to an area of growing philosophical interest.
Ilustrating the ways in which French feminism has become a valuable tool in feminist efforts to rethink religion, and responding to its promise as an intellectual resource for religious philosophy in the future, Religion in French Feminist Thought is ideal both for independent use and as a companion book to French Feminism on Religion: A Reader (Routledge, 2001).

Recent inquiries into the concept of the gift have been largely male-dominated and thus have ignored important aspects of the gift from a woman s point of view. In the light of philosophical work by Mauss, Levi-Strauss, Derrida, and Bataille, Women and the Gift reflects how women respond to the notion of the gift and relationships of giving. This collection evaluates and critiques previous work on the gift and also responds to how women view care, fidelity, generosity, trust, and independence in light of the gift."

'A strength of the book is its effective balancing of essays that critique traditional religious structures and those that construct radical new modes of thinking about the divine.' - Kelley Raab, St. Lawrence University, Religious Studies Review

Recent inquiries into the concept of the gift have been largely male-dominated and thus have ignored important aspects of the gift from a woman s point of view. In the light of philosophical work by Mauss, Levi-Strauss, Derrida, and Bataille, Women and the Gift reflects how women respond to the notion of the gift and relationships of giving. This collection evaluates and critiques previous work on the gift and also responds to how women view care, fidelity, generosity, trust, and independence in light of the gift."

This work lies at the critical juncture of feminism and religious studies and participates in the vibrant tradition of the feminist anthology. It is part of a broad feminist discourse that continues to grow less monolithic and more varied in material, method and style each year. The papers are divided into three main sections: the representation of women in sacred texts and theologies, the fundamental need to recover the heritage of women and to return to women their history, and the coming together of canonical texts with contemporary feminist theory in order to address philosophical and theological problems.