Gendered Histories
In Harris' response to Fain, he argues that garrison's project is one that works to "gain an understanding of a problem extending far beyond librarianship," one of the intersections between gender and historical narratives, while his project is to "understand library development" and to create a "philosophy of library service" (107).
Is Harris suggesting that his project somehow lies outside of gender - that it is in some way neutral? If so, I know that I question his understanding of the gendered implications (which to me seem fairly explicit) in his argument about the authoritarian, patriarchal power of early promoters of public libraries.
I know, that was more of a statement than a question, but I am interested in what y'all think about the issue.
Is Harris suggesting that his project somehow lies outside of gender - that it is in some way neutral? If so, I know that I question his understanding of the gendered implications (which to me seem fairly explicit) in his argument about the authoritarian, patriarchal power of early promoters of public libraries.
I know, that was more of a statement than a question, but I am interested in what y'all think about the issue.
1 Comments:
I think it's really hard to say that by saying "gain an understanding of a problem extending far beyond librarianship", Harris just meant the gender issue in library development. I think he might be trying to say that Garrison's goal is to understand "the condition and role of women in Americen life,"(P107) which makes their "motives" and "framework" different.
Actually I feel it very hard to truly understand their differences without reading Garrison's article. Upon reading Fain's and Harris', I thought I had got Garrison's main idea. However, after reading Garrison's response and the Introduction of Apostles of Culture, I think that she was, to a certain degree, "misunderstood". But still, I am not sure whether Harris was correct in understanding and evaluating Garrison's work.
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