Dependency denial in crisis: Revisiting feminist critiques of dualism

Abstract

Social theories – from classical accounts to more recent relational theories to feminist and postcolonial approaches – have characterized modernity as an age of proliferating dependency relationships, which, however, enable autonomy as a central value of this very modernity. This tension at the heart of modernity has led societies to deny these dependencies. Recently, crisis dynamics have precipitated abrupt realizations of dependencies on phenomena that are invisibilized, inferiorized and devalued in modern societies. The respective ‘other of reason’ on which autonomous subjectivity depends – including nature, reproduction and the body – increasingly makes itself felt. The underlying logic of dependency denial can be illuminated by revisiting the feminist critique of dualism that offers three ways to overcome dualist thought: dialectics, entanglement and tension. The article discusses these three options in order to develop a normative compass facilitating a critical perspective on dependency denial and its failure in light of current crises.