Reassessing the Notion of Vulnerability: The Feminist Debate

The issue of vulnerability has gained particular relevance within the feminist debate: first, it has been analyzed by scholars of legal and political feminism, to propose new anthropologies or political and legal approaches mindful of the link between privilege and gender oppression. Second, it has been developed specifically in relation to the status of women and the issue of gender-based violence. In this latter perspective, the concept of vulnerability has been harshly criticized, because it has been considered by many to be an expression of unjustified essentialism, and likely to favour or reinforce exclusion and victimhood. The aim of this essay is to show how a reassessment of the notion of vulnerability, and group vulnerability in particular, can be theoretically coherent and sound as well as politically positive, that is, productive of politically useful and relevant forms of collective agency. The collective dimension of vulnerability can be a prerequisite for challenging dominant structures of power, opening new arenas of discourse, proposing different narratives, and aggregating otherwise marginalized interests and needs.