Susan Moller Okin

Author(s): Brooke Ackerly, Jane Mansbridge, Nancy Rosenblum, Molly Shanley, J. Ann
Tickner and Iris Marion Young
Source: PS: Political Science and Politics , Oct., 2004, Vol. 37, No. 4 (Oct., 2004), pp. 891-
893
Published by: American Political Science Association
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/4488930

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 IN MEMOR-IAM

Charles J. Fox Fred Kort 'Thousand-Year Rule"' (1983) and

"Considerations for a Biological Basis
Charles J. Fox, professor of political Fred Kort, professor emeritus at the of Civil Rights and Liberties" (1986),
science at Texas Tech University, diedUniversity of Connecticut, passed away both in the Journal of Social and Bio-
of natural causes Thursday, May 6, atat the age of 85 on July 17, 2004, after logical Structures. He also presented
his residence in Lubbock, Texas. a long battle with cancer. Born in papers on his bio-politics research at
Chuck was born July 20, 1939, in Vienna, Fred witnessed the rise of the meetings around the world, including
Bakersfield, California, to Charles andNazis and was a student of law at the the Gruter Institute for Law and Be-
Lucy Lee Ober Fox. He served in the University of Vienna until 1938 whenhavior Science, the Fifth International
U.S. Army before he began his aca- Jewish students were expelled. As a re- Conference on Human Ethology, and
demic studies. He earned his bachelor'ssult, Fred emigrated to the United States
the International Society for Political
in 1939. In 1942 he volunteered for the
degree from the University of California, Psychology.
Santa Barbara, and his Ph.D. in political U.S. Army and returned to Europe with Fred was a dedicated and respected
philosophy from Claremont in 1977. Af- the 11th Armored Division, fought in teacher. In 1964, UConn students voted
ter eight years at Western Washingtonthe Battle of the Bulge and other him the "best teacher on campus."
University, Chuck joined the Texas Tech engagements, and eventually was sta- Many of his graduate students, now on
faculty in 1985 as assistant professor.tioned
He in Vienna. Upon his return to the faculty of numerous institutions,
served as director of the Center for Pub- the United States, Fred enrolled at have made their mark as teachers and
lic Service from 1991-1997, and he was Northwestern University in 1946, scholars. In 2003, Fred was recognized
promoted to full professor in 1994. earning his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. in by the American Political Science Asso-
Chuck's research was known for its four years. He joined the department ofciation for his 50 years of contributions
application of political philosophy to political science at the University of to the discipline. As a mentor, Fred was
public administration, exemplified par- Connecticut in 1950 and taught for 40 ahead of his time in encouraging tal-
ticularly by the ground-breaking years, retiring in 1990. ented women.
Postmodern Public Administration: To- Fred Kort was a pioneer in the use of Fred Kort was a gentleman and a
ward Discourse, published (with Hugh quantitative methods for the study of ju- person of high integrity. He will be re-
T. Miller) in 1995. It was translated dicial behavior. He was a Law and Be-
membered as an outstanding scholar, an
into Chinese in 2003. He was, also the havior Science Fellow at the University excellent teacher, and a valuable mem-
co-author, again with Hugh Miller of of Chicago Law School in 1958-1959,ber of the community. He leaves his
Postmodernism, "Reality," and Public and was one of the early users of thewife of 58 years, Ruth, two children,
Administration: A Discourse (1997), Univacl computer as a research tool.and He six grandchildren. He is sorely
as well as author or co-author (with was a research associate at the MIT
missed by his colleagues, students, and
colleagues and graduate students) of 28Computation Center in 1961. Among friends.his
refereed articles and book chapters, 16important contributions were "Predicting
invited (non-refereed) publications, andSupreme Court Decisions Mathemati- George F. Cole
numerous conference proceedings, book cally: A Quantitative Analysis of the University of Connecticut
reviews, and conference presentations. 'Right to Counsel' Cases" (American Po- I. Ridgway Davis
He was a member of the editorial litical Science Review, 1957); "Simulta- University of Connecticut
board of the American Review of Public neous Equations and Boolean Algebra in
Administration, Administrative Theory the Analysis of Judicial Decisions" (Law
and Praxis, and the Sage series: Ad- and Contemporary Problems, 1963); Susan Moiler Okin
vances in Public Administration Theory "Quantitative Analysis of Fact-Patterns
and Practice. in Cases and Their Impact on Judicial The entry in W. H. Auden's Com-
Chuck's hobbies included swimming, Decisions" (Harvard Law Review, 1966); monplace Book for "Justice" cautions:
bicycling, and long road trips, but most"A Nonlinear Model for the Analysis of "Whoever suffers from the malady of
of all he enjoyed conversation, the giveJudicial Decisions" (American Political being unable to endure any injustice,
and take of ideas that matter. The wit Science Review, 1968); and A Special must never look out of the window, but
and aphorisms that blossomed in con- and a General Multivariate Theory of stay in his room with the door shut. He
versation with him about political theory Judicial Decisions (Sage, 1977). Fred would also do well, perhaps, to throw
(and frequently in department meetings) also published numerous other articlesaway his mirror." Susan Moller Okin
are legendary. and book chapters, including three other suffered this malady but rejected the
Chuck is survived by his son Harold articles in the American Political Science poet's advice. She opened the window
Fox of Cambridge, Massachusetts, his Review. and looked in the mirror; her writings
daughter Donna Fox of Orlando, Florida, Later in his career, Fred's research reflect sensitivity to injustice and acute
two grandchildren, and his mother Lucyinterest turned to the biological determi- awareness that her position of privilege
Silvey of Antioch, California. Donationsnants of political behavior. This retool- and her good fortune made the work
in Chuck's memory may be made to the ing in a completely different subfield she did a moral imperative. The temper
Texas Tech University Foundation for was characteristic of how intellectually of her work was set by her political
the Political Science scholarship fund. venturous Fred was. This new interest sensibility to the consequences of
led to articles such as "An Evolutionary-strength and weakness and by unflag-
Clarke Cochran Neurobiological Explanation of Political ging attention to the events of our
Texas Tech University Behavior and the Lumsden-Wilson world.

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 Okin was a liberal-or as she some- Rawls and Feminism" (forthcoming in The structured gender division of
times put it a "humanist"-feminist.Politics,Her Philosophy and Economics), labor in the family thus conditions the
work was based on liberal theory's con- was a grim assessment of the very lim- lives of single women, especially single
cern for individual freedom and well- ited alterations Rawls made in response women with children, as well as women
being and its political framework of to this criticism. Rawls conceded that in relationships with men. Marriage and
rights and constitutional protections the family was part of the basic struc- the family are "the pivot of a societal
against the abuse of power. In a paper ture, with a powerful effect on the system of gender that renders women
presented at the Boston area Workshop distribution of fundamental rights and vulnerable to dependency, exploitation,
on Gender and Philosophy in 2004, she duties, but he did not apply principles and abuse."
insisted that "liberalism properly under-of justice to the internal life of the Okin's liberalism emerged as a fero-
stood, with its radical refusal to accept family. cious fighting creed in Is Multicultural-
hierarchy and its focus on the freedom A common, simplistic view has it ism Bad for Women? (1999). Her posi-
and equality of individuals, is crucial tothat any challenge to the public/private tion was classically liberal: skeptical of
feminism." When we do not take the divide is a challenge to liberalism. Okin authority and vigilant against the
individual seriously enough, women showed what is wrong with this com- unchecked abuse of power, including
within families and women within mi- monplace. The interaction between pub- the often self-styled authorities of reli-
nority communities experience injustice. lic and private life produces gender hi- gious or cultural groups and the power
In her first book, Women in Western erarchy in both. Parents and teachers of they exercised over the vulnerable. Okin
Political Thought (1979), Okin used the girls raised on the assumption that girls' showed great courage in this work, pro-
works of Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, and destiny is to become housekeepers and voking opprobrium from both the right
Mill to ask "whether the existing tradi- mothers will not invest attention and and left. She argued against acceptance
tions of political philosophy can sustain money in their education for other of gender inequalities rooted in cultural
the inclusion of women in its subject tasks. Options for young women to earn and religious communities and she
matter." Her answer was that it could a good living at satisfying work outside pointed out that the liberal disposition
not, because most philosophers assumed the home are therefore limited. A to grant exemptions from constitutional
a sharp division between the realm of woman is better off joining with a man, guarantees for indigenous peoples and
public action and that of family life. who is more likely to be able to com- illiberal cultural minorities sometimes
Their views of women and the family mand a living wage or salary. The rela- put the women in those groups in jeop-
often put authors in tension with them-tively low wage that women obtain in ardy. A liberal feminist, she did not
selves. Even Mill, who like Plato ob- the paid employment market reinforces share the view of some other liberals
jected to the attribution of socially pre- the allocation of domestic work to that tolerance of injustice within non-
scribed roles to so-called women's women, and makes many women de- liberal communities was an appropriate
nature, failed to recognize the tension inpendent on male earnings for the hope apology for colonialism. A liberal
advocating opening all occupations to of a middle-income life. Inequality in feminist, she was confident that a just
women while assuming that most the domestic division of labor fosters a liberal democracy should promote free-
women will marry and be homemakers gendered work environment that con- dom and equality for all, including
by choice. tributes to an unequal playing field. women from culturally and religiously
The tour de force of Justice, Gender In what became known as the cycle conservative minority communities.
and the Family (1989) was to take four of vulnerability, Okin explains how this Okin's liberal convictions, her unembar-
major political theorists and philoso- dynamic renders women vulnerable both rassed assertion that women are "full
phers of the time-MacIntyre, Nozick, within marriage and outside it. human beings to whom a theory of jus-
Rawls, and Walzer-and show that tak- tice must apply," and her insistence that
ing account of women would devastate [T]he inequalities between the sexes in the "anti-essentialists" turned a blind
or radically change central points of the workplace and at home reinforce eye to the constraints and vulnerabilities
each of their arguments. The argument and exacerbate each other. It is not faced by women in general-these
in this vein for which Okin is best necessary to choose between two alter-things distinguished her theory, the
known is her challenge to Rawls's The- native, competing explanations of the moral and political prescriptions she
ory of Justice. In the "original position" inequalities between men and women drew from it, and the stream of criti-
under the "veil of ignorance," the in the workplace-the "human capital" cism her work provoked.
thought experiment that identifies princi- approach, which argues that because of The questions of injustice that worried
ples of justice for a constitutional expectations about their family lives, Okin were not limited to those experi-
democracy, Rawls failed to include women choose to enter lower-paid and enced by women. She was deeply
knowledge of one's sex among the more dead-end occupations and specific disturbed by global inequality and the
characteristics of which a person would jobs, and the workplace discriminationways in which hierarchies function
be ignorant in agreeing to enter a hypo- explanation, which blames factors within global and national legal, eco-
thetical society. If you might end up a largely outside the control of female nomic, and social life. This concern lay
woman, Okin pointed out, you would employees. When the pivotal impor- behind not only her criticisms of her po-
want more political and social reforms tance of gender-structured marriage and litical theory colleagues when she
than those that Rawls suggested; in par- the expectation of it are acknowledged,thought they backed off from the imper-
ticular, you would want to insure justice these explanations can be seen, rather,atives of justice, but also her early criti-
within the family. This was a devastat- as complementary reasons for women'scism of the U.S. Catholic bishops and
ing criticism, made necessary by con- inequality. A cycle of power relations her more recent criticism of international
temporary philosophers' disappointing and decisions pervades both family and financial and other global institutions.
continuation of a pattern of neglect of workplace, and the inequalities of each In "Taking the Bishops Seriously"
women and gender in the history of po- (1984) Okin analyzed the U.S. Catholic
reinforce those that already exist in the
litical thought. One of her last pieces, bishops' 1983 Pastoral Letter on War
other. [Justice, Gender, and the Family,
"'Forty Acres and a Mule' for Women: 146] and Peace to argue vehemently for

892 PS October 2004

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justice and peace in international af- honesty and courage, her commitment East. He was the author of numerous
fairs. The Pastoral Letter was hailed by to others, and her passion for justice. articles in English and Turkish, as well
liberals at the time as an important as eight books or monographs, including
anti-war statement in the face of the
Brooke Ackerly International Civil War (1967), The
Reagan military buildup and debate Vanderbilt University Warrior Diplomats: Guardians of the
over the deployment of the MX missile Jane Mansbridge National Security and Modernization of
which, it was argued, would severely Harvard University Turkey (1976), and The Turkish Cypriot
compromise the stability of the nuclear Nancy Rosenblum State (1988).
arms race. The bishops were harshly Harvard University In 1985, as the result of his extensive
criticized by leading conservatives both Molly Shanley contributions in international law and
within and outside the government. For Vassar College politics, Metin was awarded the title of
her part, Okin took the bishops to task J. Ann Tickner "Professor" in all 27 Turkish universi-
for the inconsistencies in their argument University of Southern California ties by the Board of Presidents of
and for their conditional support of de- Iris Marion Young Turkish Universities. His passing leaves
terrence based on a counterforce strat- University of Chicago a tremendous void among the voices of
egy. Using the very terms of the just understanding between the Middle East
war theory the bishops invoked, Okin and the West. One of his former gradu-
insisted that the bishops had not gone Metin Tamkoc ate students described his death in terms
far enough in their condemnation of of "an overwhelming sadness and dev-
nuclear weapons and war as an instru- The world lost a true gentleman and astating loss to the voices of reason in
ment of international politics. She a scholar-an aristocrat of the highest the world of international relations."
argued particularly that the bishops' order-in early 2004 when Metin Metin was preceded in death by his
claim that American Catholics might Tamkoc passed away in Istanbul, beloved daughter, Ayse. He is survived
serve in the military and in defense Turkey. One of his colleagues described by his son, Ali, of Virginia and his wife
industries without violating Catholic him as having "possessed a rare combi-of Cesme, Turkey. To recognize Metin
moral teaching contradicted the nation of urbanity, seriousness of pur- and his tremendous contributions to
bishops' own principles. pose, and good humor. He treated Texas Tech University and the interna-
In "Poverty, Well-Being, and Gender: students and faculty alike with deep tional community, there will be a tree
What Counts, Who's Heard?" (2003) respect and pursued the highest stan- planting in his honor at the International
Okin argued that the conditions of dards of scholarship." Cultural Center. To participate, you may
global inequality, global poverty, and in- The involvement of Metin Tamkoc send your contribution to Metin Tamkoc
equality within nations constituted a in international affairs spanned more Memorial, Box 43103, Texas Tech Uni-
moral and political crisis. In this essay than three decades. Born September 2, versity, Lubbock, TX 79409-3103.
in Philosophy and Public Affairs and in 1926, in Ankara, Turkey, he was a (Checks should be made out to "Trees
other work that was unpublished at her graduate of the University of Istanbulfor Tech.") The date and time of the
death, Okin turned her attention to is- School of Law in 1950. He received planting ceremony will be announced,
sues of material deprivation and vulner-an M.A. in international relations from and all contributors will be notified
ability around the world. the University of Maryland in 1955 directly.
For Okin, justice and gender were and a Ph.D. in International Law from
not just of philosophical import, but Georgetown University in 1960. He did Clarke E. Cochran
something she cared about with practi- postgraduate work in international law Texas Tech University
cal passion. She supported the organiza-at The Hague. From 1964-1966 he was Kathleen A. Ellis
tion and agency of some of the world's a Fulbright Scholar and from 1967-1968 Texas Tech University
poorest women in her work with the a Fellow of the North Atlantic Treaty
Global Fund for Women. In the tradi- Organization. While at Middle Eastern
tion of great liberals, Susan Okin gave Technical University (METU) in
us political theory as advocacy, liberal- Ankara, he served as chairman of the
Yang Wei
ism as radical political thought. Unfor- department of public administration, Yang Wei, professor of political
tunately, our conversation with her dean of the school of administrative science at the Shih Hsin University,
about what liberal political thought has sciences, and assistant president of the president of the Vanguard Institute
to offer in dealing with the most press-University. He served in the Turkish for Policy Studies, Taipei, Taiwan, and
ing problems of global poverty and in- Armed Forces Command in Korea and president of the Sino-American Cul-
equality was cut short by her prematurewas a translator and interpreter for the tural and Economic Association of the
death. American Military Mission in AnkaraRepublic of China, passed away on
Susan Okin inspires us in the pursuit and for the U.S. Department of State. March 3, 2004, after a valiant battle
of justice not only by the force of her Metin also served as a writer, transla-with cancer. A political scientist of in-
keen intellect, but also by the way in tor, producer, and announcer for Voice ternational standing, Dr. Wei's career
which she lived and worked: watching of America and worked with the Peace encompassed many different fields that
over her students and egging them on; Corps. included professorships in political
helping friends and colleagues sort out In 1964, Metin came to Texas Tech science teaching and research, along
and develop their ideas; refusing to University as a visiting professor. He with presidencies of academic and
waffle or shilly-shally; delighting in became a professor in the department of professional associations, and service in
cooking, swimming, and being with political science in 1966, serving until the Republic of China (ROC) cabinet
friends; and manifesting unceasing at- his retirement in 1994. He taught Inter- and parliament.
tentiveness to and pride in her children.national Law, International Organization Born in Wu-chan, Hupeh, China in
We honor her best when we emulate and Politics, International Relations, and 1937, Dr. Wei received most of his edu-
her dedication to clear thinking, her Governments and Politics of the Middle cation in Taiwan. He obtained an L.L.B.

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