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Read the Introduction "Scholars of American political thought have often failed to appreciate the significance of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Scholars of Stanton have often not been deeply immersed in broader studies of American political thought. Sue Davis's outstanding book rectifies both these deficiencies in ways that will have enduring value."
—Rogers M. Smith, author of Stories of Peoplehood: The Politics and Morals of Political Membership Sue Davis admirably succeeds in this book that integrates the conceptual and political legacy of Elizabeth Cady Stanton with current scholarship on heritage of the American liberal state. A must-read for students of American political development, womens rights, and legal theory.
—Eileen McDonagh, author of Breaking the Abortion Deadlock Elizabeth Cady Stanton was open to any idea she encountered--old or new, conventional or innovated—except male supremacy. Sue Davis's admirable book shows that this great feminist's adaptability was both her best and worst characteristic.
—Judith Baer, author of Our Lives before the Law: Constructing a Feminist Jurisprudence Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was not only one of the most important leaders of the nineteenth century women’s rights movement but was also the movement’s principal philosopher. Her ideas both drew from and challenged the conventions that so severely constrained women’s choices and excluded them from public life. In The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sue Davis argues that Cady Stanton’s work reflects the rich tapestry of American political culture in the second half of the nineteenth century and that she deserves recognition as a major figure in the history of political ideas. Davis reveals the way that Cady Stanton’s work drew from different political traditions ranging from liberalism, republicanism, inegalitarian ascriptivism, and radicalism. Cady Stanton’s arguments for women’s rights combined approaches that in contemporary feminist theory are perceived to involve conflicting strategies and visions. Nevertheless, her ideas had a major impact on the development of the varieties of feminism in the twentieth century. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, The Political Thought of Elizabeth Cady Stanton draws on a wide variety of primary and secondary sources and promises to fill a gap in the literature on the history of political ideas in the United States as well as women’s history and feminist theory.
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