Jean Baudrillard is a pivotal figure in
contemporary cultural theory and the whole field
of the social sciences. Without doubt one of the
foremost European thinkers of the last fifty
years, his work has provoked debate and
controversy across a number of disciplines, yet
his significance has so far been largely ignored
by feminist theorists. Baudrillard's Challenge
is an attempt to redress this balance, presenting
the first systematic feminist reading of
Baudrillard's work.

Victoria Grace argues that Baudrillard's critique
of signification, the economy, and the
construction of identity offers a vital point of
departure for any serious analysis of the
problematic of patriarchy in contemporary western
societies. Drawing on the full range of
Baudrillard's writings the author engages in a
debate with:
the work of Luce Irigaray, Judith Butler, and
Rosi Braidotti on identity, power, and desire
the feminist concern with .difference. as an
emancipatory construct
writings on transgenderism and the performance
of gender
feminist concerns about the objectification of
women

Through this critical engagement Grace reveals a
number of the limitations of some contemporary
feminist theorising around gender and identity,
patriarchy and power, and in so doing offers a
way forward for contemporary feminist thought.
Baudrillard's Challenge will be essential reading
for students of feminist theory, sociology, and
cultural theory.

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