Contract and Domination offers a bold challenge to contemporary contract theory, arguing that it should either be fundamentally rethought or abandoned altogether. Since the publication of John Rawls's A Theory of Justice, contract theory has once again become central to the Western political tradition.
Carole Pateman rzuca wyzwanie przyjętym interpretacjom – formułowanym zarówno na prawicy, jak i na lewicy – „umów”, jakie zawieramy w życiu codziennym: umowy małżeńskiej, umowy dotyczącej zatrudnienia, umowy, której przedmiotem jest świadczenie usług seksualnych (prostytucja) oraz od niedawna pojawiających się umów dotyczących tzw. macierzyństwa zastępczego. Na nowo definiuje fundamentalne problemy polityczne dotyczące wolności jednostki, wspólnoty i podporządkowania. Kontrakt płci w przekładzie Jarosława Mikosa to kolejny tom w serii Biblioteka Kongresu Kobiet, opatrzony wstępem Ewy Majewskiej.
It is usually taken for granted that, in liberal democracies, a bond of political 'obligation' exists between citizens and the state. The substantive, and controversial, argument of this book is that political obligation constitutes an insoluble problem in the liberal democratic state. It is argued that the problem can be solved only within the context of a participatory democratic system. In reaching this conclusion Carole Pateman offers a general assessment of liberal theory and an interpretation of all the familiar arguments about political obligation and democratic consent. Current controversies about 'democracy' and political obligation are fully discussed in the light of both philosophical debate and empirical evidence from research in the social sciences." The Problem of Political Obligation" was first published in 1979. This new edition retains the original text but includes a substantial new chapter which clarifies further the central themes of the work.
Shows that current elitist theories are based on an inadequate understanding of the early writings of democratic theory and that much sociological evidence has been ignored.