This collection of essays investigates the relationship between gender and authority in different contexts, periods and fields. Who is permitted to speak and who holds authority in the arts, in the public sphere, in academic institutions and in politics? Who is recognized as a legitimate voice in debates and in a decision-making process, and how is that legitimation produced and preserved? What are the gendered configurations of authority? From the designing of school and university curricula to the authority of victims of abuse, from the adoption of inclusive language to the identification of stereotypes and structural inequality, a critical reflection on authority sheds light on the values and power dynamics that produce and reproduce hierarchies, inequality and oppression. Through a variety of methodological approaches, this volume addresses some of the most pressing and controversial themes under scrutiny in current feminist scholarship and activism, such as pornography, political representation, LGBTI struggles, female genital mutilation, the #MeToo movement, abortion, divorce and consent, to name but a few. The combination of disciplines and topics here included brings together representational and social dimensions, showcasing the fundamental notion of gender and authority under different facets and pointing out recurrent patterns. In turn, the focus on gender and authority works as a key to productively challenging, transforming and renewing the specific disciplines themselves.
The present edited volume is rooted in the conversations that developed over the past few years as part of the Gender and Authority Network, an interdisciplinary research project which aim has been to explore and question received notions of social, political and cultural authority, specifically as they intersect with issues of gender.1 The volume combines selected and revised proceedings from the Networkâs conferences and seminars with invited essays from established and emerging scholars and selected contributions sent in response to a Call for Papers in 2018. We reached out to several international research centers and institutions with the aim of opening up the discussion to scholars and countries beyond theâmostly Anglo-Americanâexisting Network, enriching and diversifying the thematic focus and the theoretical, methodological and political outlook of the volume. In imagining and assembling this book, we have worked closely with the authors, developing a mutually inspiring and exciting dialogue. As the authorsâ distinctive knowledge, expertise and intellectual curiosity have illuminated new aspects as well as recurring patterns of authority, the ongoing conversation has brought to the fore new questions and approaches, which have in turn further interrogated their work. The present book is thus not a collection of pre-existing material, but rather the occasion that has prompted a collective reflection and critique around the interlocked notions of gender and authority. In this way, the volume aims to represent both a legacy of the Networkâs activity over the past few years and the emergence of new connections and conversations by bringing together researchers working across different disciplines, periods and geographical contexts, and by enabling a dialogue among approaches and specialisms so different from one another, in order to understand, frame and challenge the reproduction of hierarchies and inequalities.
The essays in this volume develop a feminist exploration and critique of the notion of authority, looking at how authority functions in different contexts and on different planes, both symbolic and material, and opening up spaces for re-thinking its unequal distribution and hierarchical configuration. Although we do not aim to provide a single definition of authority and gender, leaving it to each contribution to set their own theoretical and methodological approach, we introduce here the broader conceptual framework and research questions that inspire the book as a whole and that may guide the reader through the different outlooks featured in it. The notion of authority has manifold and ambivalent facets. Its ambit and connotations are the subject of a longstanding debate among historians, political philosophers and sociologists alike.2 The term âauthorityâ comes from the Latin auctoritas, a juridical and political expression denoting the ability and right to make decisions by virtue of an acknowledged superior status, conferred by age, prestige, influence or ability.3 The notion of auctoritas was opposed to that of potestas , the latter term meaning a material force that can coerce its subjects into obedience.4 The English word âauthorityâ has inherited this twofold meaning of influence and coercive power, as it refers to a semantic constellation comprising prestige, status, power, force, leadership, command and expertise. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it first as âthe power to enforce obedience or complianceâ and, second, as âthe power to influence action, opinion, or belief, especially because of oneâs recognized knowledge or scholarship; authoritative opinion; acknowledged expertise.â Additionally, authority is defined metonymically as âa person or (especially) body having political or administrative power and control in a particular sphere.â5 As it emerges from its etymology and definition, authority refers both to a subject who holds power, individual or institutional, and to formal and informal dimensions of power. It permeates all social domains, starting from the family, where parental authority, for example, comes to mind; moving on to small groups, communities, schools, churches, industries; and then to larger social formations, such as the modern nation-state. A reflection on authority in a given social context may thereby take into consideration its distributionâquestioning who holds authority and which legitimate and recognized bodies are exercising itâand its configuration, asking which features define authority and for whom.
From a feminist perspective drawing attention to gender, such as the one adopted in this volume, a critical focus on authority means exploring the heteronormative organization of society into a male-female binary, the hierarchical relationships of power between men and women, and the gendered characterization of authority in relation to sanctioned notions of femininity and masculinity. As with âauthority,â for the purposes of this book we have not privileged a single perspective on gender, as each contribution develops its distinctive understanding and use of this category. By adopting gender as a fundamental dimension of analysis, the essays in this volume draw attention to patriarchal structures, the male-female binary, constructions of femininity and masculinity, heteronormativity and body politics. For example, a critical focus on gender allows for a distinction between forms of authority that are traditionally masculine and feminine, typically with a separation between domestic and public spheres, and subversive appropriations of authority on the part of women (or by subjects who are otherwise erased or disempowered within a patriarchal system) that unsettle traditional norms and roles and transform the notion of authority itself. By encompassing both a formal dimension of power, rooted in the coercive force of legal and political institutions, and an informal dimension of power, related to cultural and material elements that accord status and recognition, the notion of authority proves a particularly fitting and productive key for re-reading the power dynamics that shape gender relations and that determine the reproduction (or the transformation) of a social order. In other words, the notion of authority crosses multiple forms of power and social formations, thus capturing the complexity of the factors that contribute to shapeâand challengeâpatriarchal structures of power.
Because of its manifold semantic implications, the notion of authority can be read from a predominantly negative perspective, as referring to oppressive, conservative and âauthoritarianâ forms of power, or it can be read as a positive attribute that fosters an empowering and transformative potential. Focusing on differentials of power along the lines of gender, the contributions in this volume highlight both positive and negative aspects of authority, distinguishing between different connotations of the term depending on the position of the subjects involved. In this way, a feminist focus on gender shows that there is no neutral subject of authority, and therefore no univocal connotation of the term, but multiple subjects implicated in manifold relationships of power. Many of the chapters included here focus on unexpected, combative and subversive appropriations and displacements of authority by subjects who are traditionally excluded from it. Authority, in this sense, is redefined as the possibility of having a voice and being listened to, coming closer to the semantic field of agency and self-determination rather than coercive imposition.
Finally, the concept of authority is closely linked to that of author (auctor in Latin) as the source and originator of a text or discourse.6 Artistic, philosophical and religious traditions are built on the authority of those who are recognized as their most influential and respected authors. As an additional definition by the OED highlights, authority can also mean âan authoritative piece of writing; a book, passage, etc., accepted as a source of reliable information or evidence.â7 Reflecting on the notion of authority from a gender perspective opens the space for an investigation of the cons...