Queering McCloskey’s Feminism

The Tuesday Faculty Lunch Series welcomes Robin Bartlett, professor of economics, presenting “Queering McCloskey’s Feminism in Time and Context.”

Abstract:
McCloskey’s recent trilogy examines the cause and consequences of the Industrial Revolution and the role that virtues, conversations, ideas and ideologies played in that remarkable economic transformation. While not denying the importance of her insights, this piece examines her work within the context of the feminist and queer conversations of the 1980’s through the 2000s. Her transition from a biological male to a woman occurred during this time period. Her works on economic methodology and conjective truth with their gender overtones suggests recognition of a gendered conjective truth which gives rise to a third dimension of knowing – voice. The real contribution of McCloskey is her blending of a privileged and marginalized voice. The result transgresses. Her writings and persona reveal the gender expression and sexual behavior norms underlying the heteronormative script that underwrites every economic institution. Unexamined heteronormativity in these institutions, even in a virtuous society, may thwart personal and collective potentials.