Exploring social relations, understanding power, and valuing care

the role of critical feminist ethics in international relations theory

Fiona Robinson

pp. 56-80

in: Hakan Seckinelgin, Hideaki Shinoda (eds), Ethics and international relations, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001

Abstract

This chapter explores the nature and role of feminist ethics in International Relations. By this I do not mean to suggest that there is a single, unified approach to ethics which may be unequivocally defined as `feminist". Indeed, just as there is much diversity among `feminisms' or feminist theories in general, there are a variety of interpretations of what can be considered as feminist ethics. My aim in this chapter is to construct a feminist approach to ethics which is relevant and useful in the context of International Relations, and which avoids some of the dangers and shortcomings of which feminist ethics has been accused in the past.