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).

In this book Grace Jantzen constructs a Quaker spirituality of beauty as a theological-philosophical response to a world preoccupied with death and violence. Having mapped the foundations of western cultural violence in the Greco-Roman period and the Judea-Christian tradition in Foundations of Violence and Violence to Eternity, she now offers her alternative vision. This vision is an original and creative feminist reading of the Quaker tradition, considering George Fox and the writings of Quaker women, exploring the themes of inner light and beauty as alternatives to violence and the obstacles to building such an alternative world. After showing how seventeenth-century Quakers offered a different option for modernity, she maps the philosophical and ethical implications of engaging with the world through beauty and its transforming power. Written for everyone interested in contemporary spirtuality, it explains how Quaker ideas can provide a way to transform our violent world into one that celebrates life rather than death, peace rather than violence. This work is the second of two posthumous publications to complete Grace M. Jantzen's Death and the Displacement of Beauty collection, which began with Foundations of Violence (Routledge, 2004).

In this volume Grace M. Jantzen continues her groundbreaking analysis of death and beauty in western thought by examining the religious roots of death and violence in the Jewish and Christian tradition, which underlie contemporary values. She shows how man's fear of the female is often implicated in religious violence and in her critique of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament she examines a range of themes that show the western preoccupation with necrophilia. She examines the relation of death to the Jewish covenant, the nature of monotheism, Holy War and the Christian covenant and kingdom. However, Jantzen recognises that submerged beneath these themes in Judaism and Christianity are traces of an alternative world of beauty and life. Jantzen's internationally recognised feminist philosophy of religion puts forward a powerful analysis of patriarchy and violence and reveals the hidden power of natality. Her work is a searching challenge for our times and one that gives hope in a violent world. This work is the first of two posthumous publications to complete her impressive genealogy death and beauty of western thought.

'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

In this book Grace Jantzen constructs a Quaker spirituality of beauty as a theological-philosophical response to a world preoccupied with death and violence. Having mapped the foundations of western cultural violence in the Greco-Roman period and the Judea-Christian tradition in Foundations of Violence and Violence to Eternity, she now offers her alternative vision. This vision is an original and creative feminist reading of the Quaker tradition, considering George Fox and the writings of Quaker women, exploring the themes of inner light and beauty as alternatives to violence and the obstacles to building such an alternative world. After showing how seventeenth-century Quakers offered a different option for modernity, she maps the philosophical and ethical implications of engaging with the world through beauty and its transforming power. Written for everyone interested in contemporary spirtuality, it explains how Quaker ideas can provide a way to transform our violent world into one that celebrates life rather than death, peace rather than violence.

This work is the second of two posthumous publications to complete Grace M. Jantzen's Death and the Displacement of Beauty collection, which began with Foundations of Violence (Routledge, 2004).

This is the first book that provides access to twelve Continental philosophers and the consequences of their thinking for the philosophy of religion. Basically, in the second half of the twentieth century, it has been treated from within the Anglo- American school of philosophy, which deals mainly with proofs and truths, and questions of faith. This approach is more concerned with human experience, and pays more attention to historical context and cultural influences. As such, it provides challenging questions about the way forward for philosophy of religion in the twenty-first century.

This is the first book that provides access to twelve Continental philosophers and the consequences of their thinking for the philosophy of religion. Basically, in the second half of the twentieth century, it has been treated from within the Anglo- American school of philosophy, which deals mainly with proofs and truths, and questions of faith. This approach is more concerned with human experience, and pays more attention to historical context and cultural influences. As such, it provides challenging questions about the way forward for philosophy of religion in the twenty-first century.

Many feminists today are challenging the outmoded aspects of both the conventions and the study of religion in radical ways. Canadian feminists are no exception.

"Gender, Genre and Religion" is the outcome of a research network of leading women scholars organized to survey the contribution of Canadian women working in the field of religious studies and, further, to "plot the path forward." This collection of their essays covers most of the major religious traditions and offers exciting suggestions as to how religious traditions will change as women take on more central roles.

Feminist theories have been used by all contributors as a springboard to show that the assumptions of unified monolithic religions and their respective canons is a fabrication created by a scholarship based on male privilege. Using gender and genre as analytical tools, the essays reflect a diversity of approaches and open up new ways of reading sacred texts. Superb essays by Pamela Dickey Young, Winnie Tomm, Morny Joy and Marsha Hewitt, among others, honour the first generation of feminist theologians and situate the current generation, showing how they have learned from and gone beyond their predecessors.

The sensitive and original essays in "Gender, Genre and Religion" will be of interest to feminist scholars and to anyone teaching women and religion courses.

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."

The application of women's rights to the religions of the world have prompted highly contentious debates. This volume explores the many intricate issues raised in such interactions. The chapters in this volume are authored by women scholars of religion from diverse regions of the world, representing a plurality of religions, including indigenous religions. To enrich this already complex undertaking, four philosophers and legal scholars have also contributed. Their chapters help to clarify present challenges and envision innovative possibilities. The volume identifies archaic attitudes involving exclusionary regulations and controversial gender-specific practices. More contemporary impasses, such as individualism, so prevalent in western rights debates, and the unitary model of human rights, where "one size fits all," as promulgated in the west, are also appraised. Current constructive moves, especially expanding the notion of rights to involve relationships, are acknowledged. A primary concern of this volume is that of fostering future such collaborations of women advocates of gender justice.

The application of women's rights to the religions of the world have prompted highly contentious debates. This volume explores the many intricate issues raised in such interactions. The chapters in this volume are authored by women scholars of religion from diverse regions of the world, representing a plurality of religions, including indigenous religions. To enrich this already complex undertaking, four philosophers and legal scholars have also contributed. Their chapters help to clarify present challenges and envision innovative possibilities. The volume identifies archaic attitudes involving exclusionary regulations and controversial gender-specific practices. More contemporary impasses, such as individualism, so prevalent in western rights debates, and the unitary model of human rights, where "one size fits all," as promulgated in the west, are also appraised. Current constructive moves, especially expanding the notion of rights to involve relationships, are acknowledged. A primary concern of this volume is that of fostering future such collaborations of women advocates of gender justice.

While there have been a number of specialized books in the field of comparative philosophy, and many in the field of comparative religion, there are few scholars who can address both disciplines. Furthermore, when these disciplines are virtually mutually exclusive, as in Western academia, a full appreciation of non-Western approaches to either religion or philosophy is not easily attained, and distortions, such as appropriation, often occur. Within the last ten years, there has been a concerted effort on the part of a number of Western scholars to try to address these deficiencies. After Appropriation consists of thirteen essays, each of which addresses an issue or illustrates a problem in the interdisciplinary field of comparative religion and philosophy as it is presently conceived. Many misappropriations and exclusions have arisen from the Western tendency to reduce and manipulate the ideas and values of non-Western religions and philosophies to fit within Western concepts and categories. How might comparative philosophy and religion change if the concepts and categories of non-Western philosophies and religions were taken as primary? This book explores this question through analytic and phenomenological Western approaches, infused with fresh strategies and modalities derived from or inspired by non-Western traditions. In a world of increasing pluralism and continuing globalization, there is a growing need to elevate discussion of these issues to a more sophisticated level. A truly groundbreaking collection, After Appropriation inaugurates an entirely new integrative discipline of comparative religion and philosophy, and the exceptional calibre adnd wide spectrum of the book's scholarship will stimulate and propel further interest in this pivotal and fruitful direction.

This book for the first time brings together considerations upon the feminine in relation to Paul Ricoeur's thinking. The collection of renowned scholars who have published extensively on Ricoeur and promising younger scholars together shows the rich potential of his thought for feminist theory, without failing to critically scrutinize it and to show its limitations with respect to thinking gender differences. In the first part, "Ricoeur, Women, and Gender," Ricoeur's work is taken as the starting point for the reflection upon the position of women and the feminine, and for rethinking the notion of universalism. In the second part, "Ricoeur in Dialogue,"his work is related to feminist thinkers such as Simone de Beauvoir, Judith Butler, and Nancy Fraser and to the work of artist Kara Walker. These dialogues aim at thinking through socially relevant notions such as discourse, recognition, and justice. In the third part, "Ricoeur and Feminist Theology," Ricoeurian notions and ideas are the starting point for new perspectives upon feminist theology. The insights developed in this book will be of particular value to students and scholars of Ricoeur, feminist theory, and the limits of hermeneutics and phenomenology.

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 collection of essays is dedicated to the prolific career of Paul Ricoeur. In his lifetime, Ricoeur made significant contributions to many fields, such as theology, aesthetics, narratology, linguistics, and of course, philosophy. Within philosophy alone, he engaged many currents of thoughts, always providing careful and faithful analyses of philosophers while adding his own unique perspectives. Many essays in this anthology revisit Ricoeur's own works, carefully placing him in his philosophical context, while providing new interpretations of questions that mattered to Ricoeur, such as imagination, forgiveness, justice, and memory. Other essays, honoring Ricoeur's own approach, bring him to dialogue with new questions, such as globalization, technology, and national memorials.