ABSTRACT
The outburst of feminist theory and practice, which has affected so many women's lives since the 1960s, differed from previous forms of feminism. It started from assertions of women's common sisterhood in oppression. Sisterhood expressed the idea that in general women have interests opposed to those of men, that men generally dominate women, and generally benefit from this domination. During the 1970s, however, feminists produced new knowledge of women's lives. Instead of establishing women's shared oppression as women, they began to emphasize the differences between women. Once attention was given to the diversity of women's experience, to the power of some women over other women, and to the political and economic interests shared by some men and some women, problems were created for feminism. Differences of interest between women challenged feminist theory of women's shared oppression. They also undermined the basis of feminist political practice. If women do not have interests in common, then it is not clear how feminist politics can change all women's lives for the better. The problems for feminist politics raised by these areas of difference constitute the main theme of the book. Part One serves to clarify preliminary problems in approaching recent feminist analyses of women's differences.
