The women in modern philosophy were as brave as they were prolific.
Yet, today we hardly know that they were there. Kristin Gjesdal explores key ideas and concepts from eleven women who were left out when the history of modern philosophy was written. In a lively and accessible prose, she revisits the life and thoughts of these exceptional women. We encounter Germaine de Staël as she navigates the aftermath of the French revolution, Rosa Luxemburg as she fights for social justice in late nineteenth-century Berlin, and Angela Davis as she confronts American racism in California in the 1970s and beyond. As activists and as philosophers, these women were rebels in their own time. Their thinking is no less unruly – or relevant – today.
“Exhilarating enthusiasm (…) an overdue act of justice.”
Klassekampen
Philosophy is one of the most male-dominated subjects in academia. Kristin Gjesdal wants to do something about that. The result is a pretty amazing book with some incredible female characters
Dagbladet
When I first heard Kristin Gjesdal’s lecture on women in philosophy, it was almost a revelation (…) Here is a philosopher suggesting that women’s presence in philosophy is not a new phenomenon. Women have been contributing to philosophy since the very beginning of the discipline. Kristin Gjesdal helps us to find the women in modern philosophy, see them, and understand their works. As philosophy. It is a great achievement.
Solvej Balle, winner of The Nordic Council Literature Prize
The eleven remarkable philosophers profiled in Unruly Women deserve wider recognition for their brilliant ideas, and Kristin Gjesdal is the perfect writer to showcase their contributions. With care and deep insight, Gjesdal shows the relevance of these thinkers both in their own time and today. I’m eager to make this thought-provoking book available to an anglophone audience.
Kyle Wagner, Publisher at The University of Chicago Press
Kristin Gjesdal gives women back their lost importance in the history of philosophy. Her book Unruly Women shows how much women influenced the philosophy and thinking of their time. A long overdue liberation.
Ramona Jäger, Eichborn Verlag
