Baudrillard’s Challenge: A Feminist Reading

Jean Baudrillard is a pivotal figure in contemporary cultural theory. Without doubt one of the foremost European thinkers of the last fifty years, his work has provoked debate and controversy across a number of disciplines, yet his significance has so far been largely ignored by feminist theorists. Baudrillard’s Challenge is an attempt to redress this balance, presenting the first systematic feminist reading of Baudrillard’s work. Victoria Grace argues that Baudrillard’s critique of signification, the economy and the construction of identity offers a vital point of departure for any serious analysis of the problematic of patriarchy in contemporary western societies. Drawing on the full range of Baudrillard’s writings the author engages in a debate with: *the work of Luce Irigaray, Judith Butler and Rosi Braidotti on identity, power and desire *the feminist concern with ‘difference’ as an emancipatory constuct *writings on transgenderism and the performance of gemder *Lfeminist concerns about the objectification of women Through this critical engagement Grace reveals some of the limitations of some contemporary feminist theorising around gender and identity, patriarchy and power, and in so doing offers a way forward for contemporary feminist thought. Baudrillard’s Challenge will be essential reading for students of feminist theory, sociology and cultural theory.