Resisting Reality: Social Construction and Social Critique

A collection of Haslanger's essays on social construction, gender, race and the critique of social structures. Its best-known essay proposes 'ameliorative' definitions of gender and race: rather than asking what we ordinarily mean by 'woman' or 'race', Haslanger asks what concepts best serve the aim of understanding and fighting injustice, and defines gender and race in terms of social positions of subordination and privilege tied to perceived bodily features. Other essays distinguish kinds of social construction, defend the reality of socially constructed kinds against the charge that they are illusory, analyse how ideals of objectivity can serve domination, examine ideology and the structures that shape individual choices, and explore what social construction implies for metaphysics and the philosophy of language. The book shows how tools from analytic philosophy can serve feminist and anti-racist critique.

It is the central statement of an influential approach to gender and race that uses analytic metaphysics for social critique.