Philosophy of race and gender

An expanding area of research approached from a variety of traditions and perspectives by researchers at Edinburgh

Topics covered include Black Male Studies, the History of Feminist Philosophy, Social Epistemology and Philosophy of Language, Objectification, and Dehumanization.

Research questions

Focal topics for our research include:

What does it mean to say women are oppressed?Is the category ‘human’ gendered or racialized?
What is the nature of gender and race categories?What would real gender equality look like?
How is sexual inequality structured and perpetuated?How should we understand relations between various forms of social oppression?
Are femininity and masculinity inherently oppressive?What does it mean to say women are objectified?
What is the relationship between the non-human and gender/sexuality?How do processes of gendercide affect racialized male groups?
What role does the rape of racialized males play in patriarchy, colonialism, and imperialist ventures?How do we understand the higher rates of intimate partner violence victimization, sexual violence, and death suffered by racialized males as sexual vulnerability?

People

Core faculty working in this area include:

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Research interests
Tommy J CurryBlack Male Studies, Post-Intersectional Thought, Critical Race Theory, and History of Gender and Sexuality.
Aidan McGlynnEpistemology, philosophy of language, philosophy of mind.
Filipa Melo LopesSocial and Political Philosophy and Feminist Philosophy.

Affiliated faculty with an interest in the philosophy of race and gender include:

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Research interests
Gwenetta Curry (USHER Institute)Black Family, Black women, Systemic Racism
Radhika Govinda (Sociology)Feminism, intersectionality, masculinities and decoloniality
Meryl Kenny (Politics)Gender politics
Steve Loughnan (Psychology)Dehumanization, objectification
Mihaela Mihai (Politics)Critical Social and Political Theory, Arts and politics, Architecture and political theory, Political emotions, Political memory and historical injustice, Comparative constitutionalism, gender, Theories of democracy
Maša MrovljePolitical theory, informed by feminist and postcolonial theory

Meetings and events

  • Mini-conference organized by Edinburgh Women in Philosophy Group, April 17th – Theme “Freedom and Liberation”, Speakers: Charlotte Knowles (Groningen), Filipa Melo Lopes (Edinburgh), Kate Kirkpatrick (Oxford) (cancelled due to COVID).
  • Pre-read discussion with Kris Sealey (Fairfield University) about her paper, 'Resisting the Logic of Ambivalence: Bad Faith as Subversive, Anticolonial Practice' - April 2020 (cancelled due to COVID).
  • MAP (Minorities and Philosophy) - graduate-student run, incorporating what used to be the Women in Philosophy group. The organizers are Jenny Zhang and Miron Clay-Gilmore.
  • CRITIQUE (Centre for Ethics and Critical Thought). Activities often overlap with philosophical work on gender and race.
  • GenderEd and Race.Ed

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