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Mary Wollstonecraft and the Problematic of Slavery
Abstract
In 1790 Mary Wollstonecraft became a major polemicist for the first time because of her evolving political analysis and social milieu. In contrast to A Vindication of the Rights of Men in 1790, which drew primarily on the language of natural rights for its argument, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman favored a discourse on slavery that foregrounded female subjugation. The composition of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman started in the midst of these tumultuous events, its political ingredients indicating Wollstonecraft's involvement in all the issues. Furthermore Wollstonecraft's usage of colonial slavery as a reference point for female subjugation launches a new element into the discourse on women's rights. It is no coincidence, then, that Charlotte Smith in Desmond and Mary Hays in Memoirs of Emma Courtney criticize colonial slavery along with discussions of women's rights; following Mary Wollstonecraft, they use slavery as the premier sign of the antithesis of individual freedom.
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“the freedom of one group seems to be obtained at the cost of unfreedom for others”
From Mary Wollstonecraft, Social Constructivism, and the Idea of Freedom (2019) · cites this paper as Ferguson 1992
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Research works printed but not linked: 35
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Mary Wollstonecraft, Social Constructivism, and the Idea of Freedom
Hirschmann, N. J., & Regier, E. F. (2019) · Politics & Gender · doi:10.1017/s1743923x18000491 · Cited by 3
Metadata
- Authors
- Ferguson, M.
- Corresponding author
- Ferguson, Moira
- Venue
- Feminist Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1992-11
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 82-102
- ISSN
- 0141-7789 (ISSN-L)
- 1466-4380
- OpenAlex
- W2075296628
- Cited by
- 63
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 17 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 20.67
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Feminist Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Religion, Gender, and Enlightenment
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Colonialism, slavery, and trade
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Literature: history, themes, analysis
- Keywords
- Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, slavery, colonial slavery, women's oppression, women's rights, Charlotte Smith, Mary Hays, individual liberty, natural rights, eighteenth-century political thought
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- Ferguson, M. (1992). Mary Wollstonecraft and the Problematic of Slavery. Feminist Review. https://doi.org/10.1057/fr.1992.50
