Pragmatist Feminism as Philosophic-Activism: The {R}evolution of Grace Lee Boggs

This paper addresses philosophy’s absent role in—and lack of impact on—the world today. In particular, the essay situates the philosophic activism of Grace Lee Boggs within pragmatist feminism and demonstrates how it is a resource for scholars and activists committed to social justice. As an Asian American philosopher engaged in social justice movements throughout the twentieth century, Boggs’ life’s work has had a profound impact on the world, but has received little attention from American philosophers. Remembered most often as a Marxist and movement activist, Boggs never identifies herself as a pragmatist feminist. Nevertheless her core philosophic commitments largely emerge from and align with this approach. For instance, her work is steeped in the philosophy of George Herbert Mead; her educational approach emerged from the philosophy of John Dewey, and her activist commitments can be seen as a modern instantiation of Jane Addams’ own approach to social change. Explicating the linkages between Boggs’ lifetime of philosophic-activism and pragmatist feminism clarifies the limitations and values of current critiques of pragmatism while also offering a vision and a set for strategies for revolution emerging from philosopher-activists operating across spaces of difference.