ABSTRACT
French philosophy has exerted a powerful, even disproportionate influence on the way contemporary politics is conceived. Kristeva, Irigaray and Le Doeuff form part of this current of influence. In considering the contributions of French feminists, it is not enough simply to position women’s writing as a revision or augmentation of male political theory. This chapter explores some of the intellectual background and theoretical context of contemporary French feminisms. Kojève was largely responsible for kindling interest in radical readings of Hegel in France. Together with Jean Hyppolite, who translated The Phenomenology of Spirit into French in 1941, he provided a political vindication of Hegel, reading him retrospectively in the light of Marx’s account of class struggle. Since Kojeve’s reading of Hegel, French intellectual and political life has been polarised around two competing positions.
