Feminism and the critique of hierarchy: theory and practice

Abstract

The feminist movement of the last two decades decried the dominance of hierarchical structures in public and private organizations. This thesis scrutinizes the differences and overlappings of three major feminist "schools" in regard to their advocacy of non-hierarchical forms of organization. The three strands examined are 'radical feminism', ‘cultural feminism' and ‘difference feminism'. The theoretical positions of two of them (radical and difference feminism) are evaluated through the example of two feminist, egalitarian organizations. The discussion focuses on the problem of maintaining egalitarian structures and achieving a certain level of efficiency and effectiveness in such groups.