Young, Iris Marion,
1949–2006, American philosopher and political theorist, b. New York,
Ph.D. Penn State University, 1974. An activist-intellectual, Young was a
Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago and a visiting
Professor at G.W. Goethe University. She also served as an interpreter for
the United Nations and spoke more than a dozen languages. Before Chicago,
Young taught political theory in the Graduate School of Public and
International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. A socialistand a feminist, Young was noted for her
substantial contributions to social and political philosophy. She wrote on a variety of
topics, including continental political thought, feminist theory, democracy,
ethics, normative
analysis of public policy, power, and global security. Young engaged with
numerous theorists and schools of thought, such as John Rawls, Julia Kristeva, the Frankfurt School,
critical theory, and poststructuralism. Her early book, Justice and
the Politics of Difference, featured the "five faces of
oppression and laid the groundwork for the distinction between
"redistribution" and "recognition." Young's scholarship followed two
directions, one focusing on political theory and justice, and the other on
female embodiment and phenomenology.
She died on August 1, 2006.
Young published several books, including, but not limited to, Justice and
the Politics of Difference (1990), Throwing Like a
Girl: And Other Essays in Feminist Philosophy and Social Theory
(1990), Intersecting Voices: Dilemmas of Gender, Political
Philosophy, and Policy (1997), Inclusion and
Democracy (2002), Global Challenges: War,
Self-Determination and Responsibility for Justice (2006), and
Responsibility for Justice (2011).
See M. Sardoc, ed., Citizenship, Inclusion and Democracy: A Symposium on
Iris Marion Young (2006); A. Ferguson and M. Nagel, eds.,
Dancing with Iris: The Philosophy of Iris Marion Young
(2009); U. M. Vieten, ed., Revisiting Iris Marion Young on
Normalisation, Inclusion and Democracy (2014); M. Ferguson and
A. Valls, eds., Iris Marion Young: Gender, Justice, and the Politics
of Difference (2022).
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