Feminist Relational Theory

Accounts of human beings as essentially social have had a long history in philosophy as reflected in the Ancient Greeks; in African and Asian philosophy; in Modern European thinkers such as Mary Wollstonecraft, David Hume, Adam Smith, and Karl Marx; in continental philosophy; in pragmatism; in Indigenous thought, and in contemporary communitarian theories. It can be said, then, that the language of relational theory has taken a variety of forms. That relational theory is broad and captures various threads in the history of philosophy is captured in the main title of this special issue, Relational Theory . That this special issue zeroes in on the distinctive features and contributions of feminist relational theory is captured in the subtitle, Feminist Approaches, Implications, and Applications , and explained in this introduction. This special issue of Journal of Global Ethics is devoted to exploring, extending, applying, and deepening relational insights emerging from today’s feminist relational theory.