Feminism and Disciplinarity: The Curl of the Petals

In this Symposium, feminism has been invited to take a place alongside such well-established disciplines as history, philosophy, and economics in a consolidated exploration of interdisciplinary approaches to law. While sincerely extended – the feminist entry is not the only one that women are writing – and generously unbounded as to scope, ... the invitation raises what for many is a prior question: Is feminism a discipline at all?As the feminist delegate to this interdisciplinary Symposium, I have therefore taken as my initial task consideration of the issue implicit in the invitation: feminism's credentials as a discipline. I explore the contours and curl of feminism's petals in the context of the traditional criteria used to bestow disciplinary status on a subject, thus qualifying it for subsequent interdisciplinary adventures. My aim, however, is less to come up with an imperial thumbs up or thumbs down on feminism as a discipline than to think hard about the definition, authority, and functions of disciplinarity in relation to feminism.