Challenging Liberalism, Feminism as Political Critique, Lisa H. Schwartzman, University Park PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006, pp. 210.

Lisa Schwartzman's Challenging Liberalism begins with the observation that equality, autonomy and individual rights are the foundation of many feminists' political demands. In this way liberalism has facilitated women's struggle for equality, from the acquisition of the suffrage to abortion rights. At the same time, however, liberal principles are also sometimes used in ways that are troubling to feminists. Freedom of expression, for example, can be understood to protect an individual's right to engage in racist hate speech or produce violent pornography. Schwartzman's goal is to examine why, from a feminist perspective, liberal concepts function in such a contradictory way and to offer a feminist reconsideration of liberalism. She contends that such a reformulation would not only be more consistent with liberalism itself, but also that it would be a more effective way for women, and perhaps all individuals whose political demands group them as a “class of persons,” to address their political demands. Schwartzman's work is engaging, and her discussion of other theorists who have addressed these questions is thoughtful and detailed. The strength of these chapters is such that one wishes she had more fully developed her conclusions.