Gender and Nation. Introduction
Gender and Nation. Introduction

Summary/Abstract: Among the most significant developments in scholarship over the past decade or two-a development equally influential in humanities and social science disciplines-is a new interest in theorizing gender. Some scholars (and not just male ones) mistakenly assume that work on gender is of little interest beyond "women's studies." Far from it: The notion of gender, like that of class as conceptualized by Marx, focuses attention on a fundamental social relationship, the relationship between "masculine" and "feminine." Work on gender investigates the place of that relationship in social life, in power and social inequality, in forms of symbolic representation, and in the reproduction of society. The study of gender is not about women: it is about women and men in relation to each other, and it is about one of the most basic organizing principles in human societies, past and present. Once the scholarly community as a whole recognizes its significance, we can expect notable improvements in the quality both of social science research and of interpretation in the humanities. [...]

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