This book presents a series of essays by the renowned historian Joan Wallach Scott that explore the history and theory of academic freedom and the value of critical inquiry today. Scott gives a nuanced reflection on the tensions within one of academia's cherished concepts.

How gender inequality is built into the conception of modern secular nation-statesJoan Wallach Scott's acclaimed writings have been foundational for the field of gender history. With Sex and Secularism, she challenges one of the central claims of the "clash of civilizations" polemic-that secularism guarantees gender equality. Drawing on a wealt

Joan Wallach Scott critically examines the belief that history will redeem us, revealing the implicit politics of appeals to the judgment of history. She argues that the notion of a linear, ever-improving direction of history hides the persistence of power structures and hinders the pursuit of alternative futures.