Carole Pateman

Carole Pateman is a British feminist political theorist who taught at the University of Sydney and then at the University of California, Los Angeles. Her first book defended participatory democracy, including democracy in the workplace. In The Sexual Contract she argued that the social contract stories of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau hide a prior sexual contract that gave men political right over women. The book reshaped debate about marriage, employment and other relations that are presented as free agreements but can establish subordination.

Key ideas

• The classic social contract presupposes an unspoken sexual contract establishing men's right over women.
• Modern patriarchy is fraternal: it is a pact among men rather than the rule of fathers.
• Contracts that look free, such as marriage or employment, can create relations of command and obedience.
• Democracy requires participation in everyday institutions such as the workplace, not only voting.
• A universal basic income could support democratic freedom by reducing dependence on employment.

Major works

• The Sexual Contract (1988)
• Participation and Democratic Theory (1970)
• The Problem of Political Obligation (1979)
• The Disorder of Women (1989)
• Contract and Domination (2007)

In the Book corner

• The Sexual Contract 1988 · Intermediate
  A feminist reinterpretation of social contract theory. Pateman argues that the famous story of an original contract, in which free and equal…

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