Review of: Heike Guthoff: Kritik des Habitus. Zur Intersektion von Kollektivität und Geschlecht in der akademischen Philosophie. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag 2013.

Abstract

This is an ambitious dissertation indeed. A good measure of chutzpah is needed in order to play this kind of double game, namely questioning one’s own discipline through the lens of Doing Gender while sticking with the rules of the trade. Heike Guthoff’s critique is thus also an appreciation of her field of study. Her clever approach uses central conceptual tools from other disciplines, in this case Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, to critically apply gender theory to her own field while simultaneously and, with philosophical intent, critically revise the same concepts she uses. With this transdisciplinary device, Guthoff succeeds in criticizing and affirming the discipline of Philosophy in one breath.