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Male Power and Contract Theory: Hobbes and Locke in Carole Pateman's The Sexual Contract

2003; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 36; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1017/s0008423903778524

1744-9324

Joanne Boucher,

Gender Politics and Representation

This article critically analyzes Carole Pateman's novel and provocative reading of social contract theory in her now-classic work, The Sexual Contract . Pateman posits the existence of a sexual contract prior to the social contract which she argues has been suppressed in the tradition of Western political thought. The article indicates some of the potential weaknesses with constructing a gendered critique of contract theory through the lens of a sexual contract. The author specifically focuses on Pateman's re-interpretation of the patriarchalism of Hobbes and Locke to make this case.