Ruth Abbey


Ruth Abbey is an Australian political theorist with interests in contemporary political theory, history of political thought and feminist political thought.
She is a John Cardinal O'Hara, C.S.C. Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science of the University of Notre Dame.

Work

Feminist liberalism

In The Return of Feminist Liberalism, Abbey examines a number of contemporary feminists who, notwithstanding decades of feminist critique, are unwilling to give up on liberalism. Her examination centres on the work of Martha Nussbaum, the late Susan Moller Okin and the late Jean Hampton all of whom situate themselves within the liberal tradition and outline well developed positions on the compatibility of feminism and liberalism.
Abbey examines why, and in what ways, each of them believes that liberalism contains the normative and political resources for the continuing improvement of women's situations. She asks whether they are cognizant of, and can reply to, the major criticisms of liberalism mounted by many feminists. Abbey also brings out and tries to explain and evaluate the differences among these three feminist-liberals, despite their shared allegiance to this tradition. Okin, Nussbaum and Hampton do not, however, represent a minority of three in their faith in liberalism, so in addition Abbey surveys the arguments made by other contemporary feminists who see some ongoing value in liberalism, eliciting both the promise they see for women in some of liberalism's ideas as well as demonstrating how liberalism itself can be made more robust by attending to women's concerns.

Nietzsche

At the core of Abbey's writings about Friedrich Nietzsche is a study of his middle period works, Human, All Too Human, Daybreak, and The Gay Science. Her analysis provides insights on Nietzsche's morality touching on issues such as friendship, gender, marriage, egoism, pity and politics. One reviewer, writing in The Review of Metaphysics, called Nietzsche’s Middle Period a "well researched...synopsis of Nietzsche's works from 1878 to 1882," the aim of which "is to defend the distinctiveness, as well as the 'superior worth', of this neglected phase of Nietzsche's development..."
Since 2003 she has managed an extensive online resource, supported by the University of Kent and the British Academy, for the works by and about Charles Taylor.

Selected publications

Books