Rhetoric/Politics

Gender - K. Merinda Simmons

K. Merinda Simmons [+-]
University of Alabama
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K. Merinda Simmons is Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Graduate Director of the Religion in Culture MA Program at the University of Alabama. Her books include Changing the Subject: Writing Women across the African Diaspora (Ohio State UP, 2014), The Trouble with Post-Blackness (co-edited with Houston A. Baker, Jr., Columbia UP, 2015), and Race and New Modernisms (co-authored with James A. Crank, Bloomsbury, 2019). She is editor of the book series Concepts in the Study of Religion: Critical Primers (Equinox).

Description

In this chapter, we will discuss the rationales and rhetorics behind liberalism and “open-mindedness” and the limits of these seemingly progressive politics. The impulse to dismiss as close-minded those with whom they disagree, or the desire to simply do away with labels where identity is concerned is a tempting one for students and scholars alike. However, similar problems are present with such impulses as those that would advocate for racial “colorblindness.” In the name of inclusivity, what boundaries are being drawn and what exclusions are occurring? How are those exclusions legitimated, mystified, or naturalized? How does the theoretical intervention of poststructuralism help us to confront and reckon with the universalizing “good intentions” of liberalism?

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Citation

Simmons, K. Merinda. Rhetoric/Politics. Gender. Equinox eBooks Publishing, United Kingdom. Oct 2025. ISBN 9781781795446. https://www.equinoxpub.com/home/view-chapter/?id=31085. Date accessed: 12 Oct 2024 doi: 10.1558/equinox.31085. Oct 2025

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