Abstract

In this article, I argue that Amy Allen’s approach of gender issues in The Politics of Our Selves is precarious and partial insofar as it is focused on an analysis of subjection aiming to explain “how subordinated individuals come to be psychically invested in and attached to their subornation” 2. Although this is an undeniable aspect of gender subordination, it does not tackle the complexity of its symbolic and material causes. My main thesis is that Allen does not offer the best model for feminist Critical Theory in light of the complexities of capitalist societies, much less to the feminist struggles in the Global South, deeply marked by poverty, social inequality, racism and all sorts of violence against women.