Emily S. Lee, "A Phenomenology for Women of Color: Merleau-Ponty and Identity-In-Difference" (Lexington Books, 2024)
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What is Emily S. Lee’s new book about and why does it matter?
Hi everyone, this is Marshall Poe. I'm the founder of the New Books Network, and I'm also a historian. I used to be a history professor, and I love maps. So I'm especially happy to tell you that this episode is sponsored by What's Your Map, which was the winner of the best education podcast at the 2025 British Podcast Awards. What's Your Map is hosted by historian and prize-winning author, Professor Jerry Broughton. In each episode, he invites a guest to share. A map close to their heart and unfurl the ideas, inspirations, and stories behind it. I can tell you I've listened and it's fascinating. The podcast is in its sixth series and is enjoyed by audiences around the globe. You can explore all the maps in the podcast at occulehyphenmundi.com while you listen.
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Hello and welcome to New Books and Philosophy, podcast channel with the New Books Network. I'm Sarah Tyson, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, Denver. I'm co-host of the channel along with Carrie Figdoor, Robert Talise, and Malcolm Kidding. Together we bring you conversations with philosophers about their new books, drawing from a wide range of areas of contemporary philosophical inquiry. Today's interview is with Emily S. Lee, Professor of Philosophy at California State University, Fullerton. Her book, A Phenomenology for Women of Color, Merlot Ponti and Identity and Difference, is just out from Lexington Books. How can we understand the changing power of race and gender to shape our reality?
How shared is reality? Can narratives of experience help us develop these analyses? What role does embodiment play in shaping experience? In a phenomenology of women of color, Lee uses the tools of critical phenomenology to deeply engage with the theoretical work of women of color to approach these questions. Through reconstructing phenomenological approaches, particularly as developed by Maurice Merlo-Ponti, Lee helps us see past naturalization of the identity group. Women of color to understand more deeply the coalitional struggle its articulation involves. Emily Esley, welcome to New Books in Philosophy. Oh, thank you. Yeah, thank you very much. Will you tell us a bit about yourself and your background as a philosopher?
Um, how you came to write this book, how your interests brought you to phenomenology?
So I came to I first um was introduced to philosophy as a Lincoln Douglas debater, actually. Um In high school and uh the only reason I even tried out for debate was because in junior high school someone placed me immediately in a math team. And didn't even offer the suggestion of a debate team. And I think something in me once I started high school just felt like, what what is what's going on in this tracking and what is debate about? So because of that, I tried out for The debate team and it turned out I was actually pretty good at. And and if anything, I was more interested in it than the math team. I mean because I I didn't do anything with math after that. So But it was um the good Douglas debate for people who know about it.
It um actually utilizes a lot of philosophical arguments. It was in high school I read um John Ross's A Theory of Justice, Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government, Plato's Republic, Nietzsche's success book as Erathustra. I'm sure I didn't understand most of it, but nevertheless, that's where I was introduced to philosophical ideas and And so um I ended up not majoring it in college.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is Emily S. Lee’s new book about and why does it matter?
0:00–7:30
2
How did Lee’s early experiences with debate and philosophy shape her research?
7:30–18:06
3
Why does Lee combine Merleau‑Ponty’s phenomenology with women‑of‑color theory?
18:06–28:31
4
How does phenomenology explain the role of perception, bias, and embodiment?
28:31–43:18
5
What is the “historical racial‑sexual schema” and how does it affect women of color?
43:18–58:01
6
How can the concept of “multiplicitous subjects” help us confront racism as bias?
58:01–1:07:13
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from New Books in Philosophy
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