Many feminist theorists have embraced coalition building as the
central model for feminist political mobilization. They have done so
because they believe that coalitional solidarity resolves a long-standing
impasse within feminism between the political claims of diversity among
women and the political need for unity. In this essay, I argue that the
turn to coalition politics within feminist theory is problematic: While
coalitional solidarity honors the claims of diversity among women, it
ignores the importance of acknowledging commonality. The tactical ties
that it encompasses fail to enact the kind of mutual recognition on which
feminism, as a movement for social justice, depends. I show that in order
to address both the concern with diversity and the need for unity in a
satisfying way, theorists of solidarity must supplement their appeal to
coalition building with an account of the ethical and affective
preconditions of inclusive political ties. Specifically, I argue that the
cultivation of “enlarged sympathy” among feminist political
actors is crucial to the establishment of political bonds that accommodate
and affirm important differences among women.The author would like to thank the following individuals for
helpful comments and discussions: Farid Abdel-Nour, Cheryl Hall, Kimberly
Lau, Peregrine Schwartz-Shea, and the editors and anonymous reviewers at
Politics & Gender. An earlier version of this article was
presented as a paper in San Francisco at the American Political Science
Association's annual meeting in 2001.