Using Ritzer, G. & Stepnisky, J. (2022) Chapter 8 - Contemporary Feminist Theories, in Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics, Los Angeles: SAGE. (pp. 217-255)

This AI-generated conversation reviews 15 general questions that can be used to design quiz questions about the topic.

Nancy Fraser argues that capitalism inherently exploits and devalues social reproduction—the unpaid care work essential to sustaining life and labor—while structurally relying on it, creating a fundamental contradiction. She demonstrates how capitalism’s separation of "productive" (paid, male-dominated) and "reproductive" (unpaid, female-dominated) labor enforces gender oppression across historical phases: from 19th-century "separate spheres" ideologies to today’s financialized capitalism, which pulls women into paid work while privatizing care through global inequities. Fraser critiques how progressive neoliberalism co-opts feminist language to mask this crisis, celebrating individual empowerment while dismantling collective support systems. Ultimately, she shows that gender inequality is not accidental but foundational to capitalism, as its profit-driven logic systematically undermines the very care work it depends on, demanding transformative structural change to reconcile production with social reproduction.Source: Fraser, N. (2022). Care Guzzler: Why Social Reproduction Is a Major Site of Capitalist Crisis, in Cannibal Capitalism (pp. Ch. 3), United States: Verso Books

This conversational overview, created using AI, provides a comprehensive overview of contemporary feminist theories within sociology based on the following source:

Ritzer, G. & Stepnisky, J. (2022) Chapter 8 - Contemporary Feminist Theories  in Contemporary Sociological Theory and Its Classical Roots: The Basics, Los Angeles: SAGE. (pp. 217-255)

It begins by outlining fundamental questions driving feminist inquiry and traces the historical roots of these theories back to early feminist activism and foundational female sociologists, often overlooked in traditional accounts. The text then categorizes feminist thought into key areas: gender difference, gender inequality, gender oppression, and structural oppression. Within each category, it examines various theoretical perspectives, such as cultural feminism, liberal feminism, radical feminism, socialist feminism, hegemonic masculinity, and intersectionality theory. Finally, the chapter discusses contemporary challenges to feminist theory posed by postmodernism and neoliberalism.

The conversation discusses eight questions derived from Dillon, M. (2019), Chapter Eleven: Michel Foucault: Theorizing Sexuality, the Body, and Power, in Introduction to Sociological Theory: Theorists, Concepts, and Their Applicability to the Twenty-First Century (pp. 369-+), United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated,

The AI-generated conversation, under S. A. Hamed Hosseini's supervision, reviews 12 potential questions and guides the students on how to study the text and prepare to answer the questions.

The conversation reviews: Giorgi, A. (2022).  Punishment. In B. Skeggs, S. R. Farris, A. Toscano, S. Bromberg (Eds.) Punishment (Vol. 3, pp. 212-231). SAGE Publications Ltd,This source from the Sage Handbook of Marxism examines the relationship between capitalist transformations and the evolution of punishment. It argues that the shift to neoliberal governance has led to increased social inequality and a corresponding expansion of penal powers and technologies of social control. The text explores how economic restructuring and the management of surplus populations are linked to changes in incarceration rates and punitive practices, particularly in the USA. Furthermore, it discusses the political economy of punishment as a critical framework for understanding these developments, including the role of race and the impact of the "prison industrial complex".

The conversation reviews the chapter by: Drucker, P. (2022) Queer Studies, in B. Skeggs, S. R. Farris, A. Toscano & S. Bromberg (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Marxism (pp. 998-1012)

This chapter from Dillon's "Introduction to Sociological Theory" explores Michel Foucault's theories on power, the body, and sexuality, highlighting concepts like disciplinary practices, bio-power, and the social construction of sexuality. It examines how institutions and discourses regulate bodies and shape our understanding of sex. The text further discusses the development of queer theory as a challenge to traditional sociological understandings of sexuality, particularly the heterosexual/homosexual binary, and considers its implications for social analysis. The chapter also touches upon the heterosexist bias within sociology and the ongoing debates surrounding the essentialist and constructionist views of sexual identity.

This academic chapter from Harris's 2024 work, "Post-structuralism and Post-Modernism," introduces the core concepts of these intellectual movements that emerged in the late 1960s, challenging established Enlightenment thinking and structuralism. It outlines key figures like Foucault, Derrida, Lyotard, and Baudrillard, explaining concepts such as discourse, deconstruction, hyperreality, and biopolitics, and their impact on social theory, including the rejection of binaries and new understandings of subjectivity. The text also discusses criticisms of these approaches, such as relativism and obscurantism, referencing academic hoaxes and debates, before concluding with their lasting influence on social research through methods like Critical Discourse Analysis. Finally, it points to further reading, encompassing both primary texts from key theorists and secondary analyses of their ideas.

This episode examines how the Frankfurt School's critical theory can illuminate the entwinement of capitalism with gender and racial inequality. It poses questions about whether these inequalities are structural necessities or historically flexible, exploring concepts like the culture industry's role in reinforcing stereotypes and how false needs manipulate desires. The text further analyzes how instrumental rationality can embed discrimination within institutions and why pathological normalcy leads to the acceptance of oppression. Finally, it considers how one-dimensionality limits resistance to these inequalities within capitalist societies.