hooks describes how to reevaluate both domestic and professional work and concepts of parenthood to destabilize the influence of over-arching systems of oppression on the micro level. She cites discrimination she experienced within feminist organizations in her call for solidarity and cautions against reproducing structures of oppression within activist spaces. With this, hooks advocates for solidarity among men and women across class and racial backgrounds in the struggle against oppression. These systems work together to oppress the marginalized, and without addressing them together, hooks insists that the feminist movement will never achieve political reform or end sexist oppression. hooks believes that ending sexist oppression requires acknowledging that it is one of several systems of domination and oppression at work in society, the others being patriarchy, imperialism, capitalism, and white supremacy. hooks argues that focusing only on this type of liberation widens the divide between white, bourgeois feminists and the majority of women living in the United States, who have always worked. She cites as an example the feminist movement’s championing of work as liberatory this rhetoric elevated office jobs and other types of work that require access to education and literacy, which come with economic privilege. Hooks argues that the feminist movement needs to consider the perspectives of women living on the margins of society, meaning those who experience cultural oppression such as racism, imperialism, and classism. She quotes directly from influential feminists such as Betty Friedan, author of The Feminine Mystique whom most feminists took to be a primary authority on feminist matters.

She begins by establishing her own voice in the field and justifies her arguments by pointing out racist and classist undertones or outright statements from first- and second-wave feminist leaders. This study guide refers to the 3rd paperback edition, published by Routledge in 2014.īell hooks writes Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center with the intent of critiquing the leadership, ideologies, and public actions of the feminist movement through the mid-1980s. hooks engages with mainstream feminist leaders and prominent thinkers to ground her arguments within the feminist academic tradition while writing in a direct, easy-to-read style to reach a broader audience. Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center is a foundational text in contemporary Black feminist theory. She spent the next decades teaching in universities and publishing dozens of books about feminism and culture.

Hooks established herself as a feminist thought leader upon publishing her widely-acclaimed first book, Ain’t I a Woman, in 1981.

Feminist theory from margin to center