Michaele Ferguson

Introduction: Iris Marion Young in context

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:42:52 +0000

Introduction: Iris Marion Young in context Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:42

Introduction: Iris Marion Young in context

By: Michaele L Ferguson, Andrew Valls

Abstract:

Iris Marion Young was one of the most influential and innovative political theorists of her generation. She had a substantial impact on a wide range of topics such as democratic theory, feminist theory, and justice. Young work hence constitutes an important challenge to many of the most dearly held notions about the task of theory in general, and political theory in particular, even while it affirms the necessity of sound theory and the inescapability of questions of justice. Her work is deeply informed by many Continental schools of thought, including poststructuralism, existentialism, phenomenology, and critical theory, yet Young also engaged Anglo-American and analytic political philosophy. Young draws upon the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s as a source and an inspiration for her arguments about justice. The work of justice is first to render the structural processes visible and then to take collective action to dismantle those social structures that are sources of domination and oppression.

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Iris Marion Young: gender, justice, and the politics of difference

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:40:22 +0000

Iris Marion Young: gender, justice, and the politics of difference Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:40

Iris Marion Young: gender, justice, and the politics of difference

By: Michaele Ferguson, Andrew Valls

Abstract:

Iris Marion Young (1949-2006) was one of the most influential and innovative political theorists of her generation who had a significant impact on a wide range of topics such as democratic theory, feminist theory, and justice. She bridged many longstanding divides among political theorists, engaging in Continental and critical theory, but also insisting on the importance of normative argument: her corpus stands as a testament to the fruitfulness of engaging in both abstract theory and the'real world'of everyday politics. This volume spans the several decades of her work, illustrating her intellectual development over time through three major areas of innovation: Gender: Maintaining that gender is both conceptually and politically meaningful, Young theorized gender in terms of structures that, in combination, position different people we call" women" in different ways, such that some women have some structures in common, without all women sharing all gendered structures in common. Justice: Young early writings on a critical theory of justice evolved in her later and posthumously published works where she developed an account of justice that brought together her theorization of structure with her concern to respond to contemporary claims of injustice. The Politics of Difference: Young rejected universal and abstract theories of justice and maintained that justice instead required attending to the experiences of people marked by difference. This volume will prove useful to scholars and students working in the fields of critical and political theory, feminist theory, international law and public diplomacy.

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Dead dogma and the limits of feminist political imagination: Thinking# MeToo as consciousness-raising

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:38:37 +0000

Dead dogma and the limits of feminist political imagination: Thinking# MeToo as consciousness-raising Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:38

Dead dogma and the limits of feminist political imagination: Thinking# MeToo as consciousness-raising

By: Michaele Ferguson

Abstract:

Commentators frequently describe the #metoo movement as a kind of "consciousness-raising." This language works to position #metoo within a radical, political tradition of feminist activism, yet obscures anti-political, dogmatic undercurrents in contemporary feminism. I analyze contemporary and second wave feminist writings to reveal three, anti-political uses of "consciousness-raising" common to both eras. I recover a fourth usage—revolutionary consciousness-raising—deriving from early radical feminists' experiences with various forms of leftist activism. Revolutionary consciousness-raising can inspire a revitalized political imaginary: one that is radically democratic, and that aims to unsettle all dogma—including feminist dogma.

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Justice and the politics of identity: Becoming and structure in Iris Young

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:36:23 +0000

Justice and the politics of identity: Becoming and structure in Iris Young Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:36

Justice and the politics of identity: Becoming and structure in Iris Young

By: Michaele L Ferguson

Abstract:

In this article I recuperate a structure-oriented account of a politics of becoming from the work of Iris Young, one that rejects identity politics to focus instead on redressing structural injustice. Young offers a theorization of democracy that at once acknowledges our inner multiplicity and our individual capacity to shape our identity, and views equality and inclusion as important political goals that require eliminating structural injustice. For Young, fully embracing the multiplicity and fluidity of groups entails a shift away from conceptualizing groups in terms of identity, toward viewing groups as structural positions. Emancipation thus cannot be achieved through including marginalized identities (e.g., through group-based representation) but only through attention to how particular social positions become the site of structural advantage or disadvantage.

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A Picture Held Us Captive: Simon Stow's Referential Theory of Black Patriotism

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:34:44 +0000

A Picture Held Us Captive: Simon Stow's Referential Theory of Black Patriotism Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:34

A Picture Held Us Captive: Simon Stow's Referential Theory of Black Patriotism

By: Michaele L Ferguson

Abstract:

Simon Stow invokes Ludwig Wittgenstein Philosophical Investigations to distinguish his account of Black patriotism from that offered by Maxwell Burkey and Alex Zamalin.2 Where Burkey and Zamalin associate Black patriotism with “being a certain way” and “internalizing [an] identity,” Stow rejects what he characterizes as their “personal orientation” in favor of conceptualizing patriotism as a language. By appealing to the Philosophical Investigations, Stow implies that his theory of the language of patriotism will reject the referential picture of language that Wittgenstein famously argued in that book held philosophers captive. Nonetheless, he quickly moves away from thinking about how the “word ‘patriotic’. . . is used.” Instead, he shifts to thinking about patriotism as “signified by a number of words, sounds, symbols, or ideals associated with a nation.”3 As I have argued elsewhere, this focus on the referents of attachment is characteristic of much democratic theory on patriotism, and misunderstands patriotism as fixed, rather than as a dynamic and agonistic activity of collective meaning-making.4 While Stow also wishes to give such an account of patriotism, his continued attachment to a referential logic leads him to offer an account of patriotism that is much more conventional than I think he (dare I say it?) intends. As a result, he holds up Black patriotism as exceptional, when in fact it illustrates the rule that reveals the language of patriotism to be unanchored to any particular referents. All of us have the capacity to play with the language of patriotism, to subvert conventional views of patriotism, to signal about patriotism with a double-voice, because the language of patriotism—like all language—is ever available for subversion and reconfiguration.

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Feminism and the politics of becoming

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:33:14 +0000

Feminism and the politics of becoming Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:33

Feminism and the politics of becoming

By: Michaele L Ferguson

Abstract:

This essay critically analyzes Hans Asenbaum treatment of feminist political theory in Chapter 3 of The Politics of Becoming, using his own concept of the ‘dilemma of difference’ to evaluate how feminists become ‘present’ in his work. While Asenbaum commendably centers feminism, he reproduces problematic dynamics in political theory by focusing almost exclusively on an older generation of white, Western, Anglophone feminists. This reinforces the marginalization of newer, more diverse feminist voices in the field, and collapses the rich disagreements within feminist thought into a singular, essentialized perspective. The chapter thereby enacts a scholarly form of what Iris Young calls ‘internal exclusion’: feminists are cited but not truly heard. In response, the essay proposes a ‘Feminist Citation Bechdel Test’ to guide more transformative citation practices. The essay not only critiques Asenbaum but also builds on his work by reflecting on how to make present marginalized perspectives without reproducing the very hierarchies and exclusions they seek to challenge.

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Organizing Feminism: Towards Centering the CWLU in Feminist Political Imagination

Avery Lord — Tue, 16 Jun 2026 19:31:40 +0000

Organizing Feminism: Towards Centering the CWLU in Feminist Political Imagination Avery Lord Tue, 06/16/2026 - 13:31

Organizing Feminism: Towards Centering the CWLU in Feminist Political Imagination

By: Michaele L Ferguson

Abstract:

This essay argues that contemporary feminist political imagination is constrained by the dominance of the “New York circle” in narratives of late 1960s and early ’70s radical feminism. This focus has marginalized other feminist groups and reinforced a “progress narrative” that dismisses all early radical feminism as irredeemably white, anti-lesbian, and anti-trans. In response, the essay recovers the Chicago Women Liberation Union (CWLU) as a model of intersectional, grassroots feminist activism. Through archival analysis, it reconstructs CWLU political theory and practices to offer an alternative feminist inheritance—one better suited to organizing beyond the state and surviving today political backlash.

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Age and the political machine: What happens after a lawmaker passes away?

Anonymous — Tue, 03 Oct 2023 21:48:27 +0000

Age and the political machine: What happens after a lawmaker passes away? Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 10/03/2023 - 15:48

Michaele Ferguson, associate professor of Political Science and President Teaching Scholar at �Ͼ�Ʒ�� was recently interviewed for �Ͼ�Ʒ�� Today. Dr. Ferguson was interviewed as part of the article "Age and the political machine: What happens after a lawmaker passes away?" in which she discusses the process to replace a lawmaker, following the recent death of Senator Dianne Feinstein. She examines age, gender and death in politics—and what voters should consider before filling out a ballot. You can read the interview with Dr. Ferguson here: Age and the political machine: What happens after a lawmaker passes away? | �Ͼ�Ʒ�� Today | �Ͼ�Ʒ��

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Will abortion spur more women to vote in November? Expert weighs in

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 15:25:34 +0000

Will abortion spur more women to vote in November? Expert weighs in Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 11/01/2022 - 09:25

The 2022 midterm elections are right around the corner, and a slew of high-profile races, including some in Colorado, remain nail-bitingly close. One question, in particular, has left many political pundits scratching their heads: How big of a role will the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June to strike down Roe v. Wade play in motivating voters to cast a ballot?

Michaele Ferguson is the author of the books Sharing Democracy and W Stands for Women: How the George W. Bush Presidency Shaped a New Politics of Gender and an associate professor in the Department of Political Science at �Ͼ�Ʒ�� who studies feminism and democratic theory.

Ferguson talks about Roe v. Wade and the Nov. 8 election, U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert and gender in politics, and why senate candidate Joe O’Dea has staked out a moderate stance on abortion.

click here to read!

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Five questions for Michaele Ferguson

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 18:09:54 +0000

Five questions for Michaele Ferguson Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 02/11/2021 - 11:09

Professor Michaele Ferguson was one of two faculty members across the University of Colorado system awarded the title of CU President Teaching Scholar in 2020. Professor Ferguson was recently featured on CU Connections where she was asked about her unique teaching style, future book and research projects, and what it means to be awarded the Presidents Teaching Scholar at CU.

Learn more about Michaele Ferguson's interview here : CU Connections

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