A Communitarian Reading of Gender Domination in the Thought of John Stuart Mill

Subject Areas : Woman and Society

Fariba Niksiar ¹ , Seyed Khodayar Mortazavi Asl ^{2 *} , Faramarz Mirzazade Ahmad Beiglo ³

1 - Ph.D. Candidate in political thought, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
2 - . Assistant professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Assistant professor, Department of Political Science and International Relations, South Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2023-12-06 Accepted : 2024-09-16 Published : 2025-02-03

Keywords: John Stuart Mill, Communitarians, Gender domination, Laws and Institutions, Social goods,

Abstract :

Introduction: Dominance, monopoly, and the exercise of power lead to inequality, injustice, and marginalizing the oppressed person with unpleasant consequences for the individual and the society. The purpose of this study is to address the issue of domination as one of the obstacles to the growth and development of women’s capabilities and their participation in the development of society and politics. The liberal philosopher, John Stuart Mill (1806- 1873) condemned the domination of men over women in his book "The Subjection of Women" and considered laws and institutions to be involved in this process. But most of the selected communitarians in this study (Alasdir MacIntyre, Charles Taylor, Michael Walzer and Martha Nussbaum) relate domination with the enjoyment of social goods. Therefore, from the point of view of the selected communitarians, this article examines Mill’s opinion about gender domination.

Methods: As qualitative research, this study uses hermeneutic method of Quentin Skinner. Skinner considers the intention of the author and his/her social context. He believes that the main duty of the interpreter is to prove the meaning of the text, and the meaning can not be obtained simply by reading the text, but to achieve it, one must go beyond or below the literary level of the text, and discover the motivations and intentions of the author.

Findings: Michael Walzer prioritizes social ties and morality to laws and institutions and relates domination to the enjoyment of social goods. Attemptes are made to extend Walzer’s view to the other selected communitarians, because their intellectual backgrounds are similar. The findings show these efforts have been effective, but Martha Nussbaum's ideas are different from them; because of her different reading of Aristotle. Nussbaum’s Ideas are close to that of John Stuart Mill, who recommends amendment of laws and institutions to remove gender domination. Nussbaum recommends specific policies and legal rights to ensure equal abilities for women.

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