Is Women's Studies Dead‪?‬

What motivates the question "is Women's Studies dead?" Firstly, a number of scholars have recently suggested that its demise is necessary and/or inevitable (Brown "The Impossibility of Women's Studies"; Brown, Politics out of History; Patai; Martin). Secondly, in Anglo-American culture, there are numerous contemporary accounts of a move into an era of third wave feminism in which Women's Studies seems misplaced and anachronistic (Findlen; Walker; Maglin and Perry; Heywood and Drake). And, thirdly, the strength and breadth of criticisms of Women's Studies appear to be on the increase (Ahmed et al; Jackson), impelling more Women's Studies scholars themselves to address the issue of the downfall of Women's Studies and its necessary resuscitation. It may appear that I have a predictable desire in defending its teaching and practice and arguing against its extinction as I currently teach in a Women's Studies center. However, what lies at the root of my interest is a three-fold, potentially paradoxical view. I agree with many of the contemporary criticisms; I disagree with many of the arguments put forward by practitioners of Women's Studies for its continuance; yet, I still harbor a desire for it to prevail. How do I justify this apparently contradictory judgement? Why do I entertain some remnants of value in Women's Studies? To address these questions and the issue of the imminent dissolution of the field, I will elaborate on the criticisms and defenses of Women's Studies particularly in the context of subject-based enquiry. I will then offer an alternative way to think about the ensuing impasse between the two positions utilising Wendy Brown's recent interpretations of the work of Jacques Derrida and Walter Benjamin in Politics out of History.