‘The self-made self’: analysing the potential contribution to the field of gender and education of theories that disembed selfhood

The extent to which the ideas of certain influential, contemporary social theorists who arguably analyse selves as disembedded from social structures can contribute to the theorising of gender and education is explored in this article. We begin by considering hegemonic explanations of neo-liberal society and particularly the emphasis on conceptions of ‘individualisation’ and ‘individualism’, relating these ideas to feminist theorising of the ‘self’ as reflexive, always in a state of becoming. Such approaches have proved useful for feminist/pro-feminist educationalists in understanding the ways young people make sense of their lives. At the same time we recognise the limitations of these theories of reflexive modernity, which present a challenge for feminist agendas. In spite of their shortcomings, these theories have freed up the ‘subject’, with implications for gender identities and understandings of gender. Related to these theories of the ‘individual’ as ‘disembedded’ from society are those in which ‘gender’ is detached from structural biology. Halberstam's (1998) conception of ‘female masculinities’ is informing, as well as being challenged by, feminist educationalists’ work. This article will explore some of the benefits and limitations of theories of gender as isolated from sex, arguing that we need to retain an awareness and analysis of power inequalities as central to feminist theory in education.