Rethinking the cultural turn in feminism

This thesis aims to problematize the cultural turn in feminism as a postmodern condition. By ‘postmodern’, I refer to the fragmentation of feminist theories and practice, primarily demonstrated in the crisis of its political subject. Theoretically, the political subject of ‘woman’ has been put into question, calling for a revisionary analysis of gender. In practice, the crisis of representation exposes its inability to capture diverse political demands. This thesis addresses this issue by examining two competing approaches: the cultural approach of postmodernism, which posits the incompleteness of subjectivity as a precondition for democratic contestation; and the social approach, which is rooted in Marx’s historical materialism. Through the analysis of practical political cases such as intersectionality and identity politics, it is demonstrated that the cultural approach is ineffective in bridging the gap in political representation. Conversely, the social approach lacks sufficient analysis of ideology. The last chapter concludes with a reflection on the role of ideology critique in feminism. I defend genealogical analysis as a key method for ideology critique. While addressing the problem of the suspension of normativity, I argue for a radical understanding of ideology: The idea that we are always within a discursive construct cannot be misinterpreted as nihilism. Rather, insofar as discursive formation requires our social practice, meaning can only be produced out of praxis.