Guide to the Wendy Brown papers, 1979–2022

John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Published in 2024

Collection Overview

Title:	Wendy Brown papers
Date range:	1979–2022
Creator:	Brown, Wendy, 1955-
Extent:	1.5 linear feet 1 record center carton and 1 file box
Abstract:	This collection consists of the professional papers of Wendy Brown, scholar of political theory and feminist theory. Brown is a Professor Emerita of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Brown's work often explores the intersections of gender, sexuality, and politics, critiquing how neoliberal ideologies shape social relations and identity. Her influential publications include States of Injury and Undoing the Demos, which analyze the impact of neoliberalism on democratic practices and public life. The collection includes course materials, lecture notes, and her writings. The collection spans from 1979 to 2022.
Repository:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Collection number:	MS.2024.024

Scope & content

This collection consists of the professional papers of Wendy Brown, scholar of political theory and feminist theory. Brown is a Professor Emerita of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Brown's work often explores the intersections of gender, sexuality, and politics, critiquing how neoliberal ideologies shape social relations and identity. Her influential publications include States of Injury and Undoing the Demos, which analyze the impact of neoliberalism on democratic practices and public life. The collection includes course materials, lecture notes, and her writings. The collection spans from 1979 to 2022 and is arranged into 4 series.

Series 1, PROFESSIONAL AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT, 1979 – 2015, includes conference materials, correspondence and dossier. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Series 2, TEACHING, 1982 – 1990, includes course materials, lecture notes, annotated readings and syllabi. This series is arranged alphabetically by course title.

Series 3, WRITING, 1991 – 2022, includes articles, book chapters, essays and reviews written by Brown or about her writing. This series is arranged alphabetically by writing format.

Series 4, ELECTRONIC RECORDS ON REMOVABLE CARRIERS, No Date, includes a film with an interview of Brown. This series is arranged alphabetically by record type.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women.
• Feminist Theory Archive.

Subject Topics

• Political science--Philosophy.
• Critical theory.
• Feminist theory
• Neoliberalism
• Political culture

Arrangement

This collection is arranged into 4 series.

• Series 1. Professional and Career Development
• Series 2. Teaching
• Series 3. Writing
• Series 4. Electronic records on removable carriers

Biographical/Historical Note

Wendy Brown is a distinguished American political theorist and Professor Emerita of Political Science at the University of California, Berkeley.

Brown received her PhD in Political Philosophy from Princeton University in 1983. She taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Williams College, and then at Berkeley in 1999. Brown's fields of interest include the history of political theory, feminist theory, contemporary critical theories of law, nineteenth and twentieth century Continental theory, and contemporary American political culture. She is best known for intertwining the insights of Marx, Nietzsche, Weber, Freud, Frankfurt School theorists, Foucault, and contemporary Continental philosophers to critically interrogate formations of power, political identity, citizenship, and political subjectivity in contemporary liberal democracies. Her scholarship has focused on neoliberalism and the political formations related to it. Some of her influential publications include States of Injury: Power and Freedom in Late Modernity (Princeton, 1995), Regulating Aversion: Tolerance in the Age of Identity and Empire (Princeton 2006), Walled States, Waning Sovereignty (Zone, 2010), Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism's Stealth Revolution (Zone, 2015) and In the Ruins of Neoliberalism: The Rise of Anti-Democratic Politics in the West (Columbia University Press 2019). Her work has been translated into more than twenty languages. She lectures around the world and has held a number of distinguished fellowships and visiting professorships, most recently at Columbia University, Cornell University, University of London at Birkbeck, and the London School of Economics. In 2017-18 she was a Simon Guggenheim Fellow and UC Presidents Humanities Research Fellow. In 2021-22, she was Visiting Distinguished Professor in the School of Social Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton. In 2021, she was awarded Berkeley's highest honor--the Berkeley Citation, awarded to "distinguished individuals or organizations, academic or nonacademic, whose contributions to UC Berkeley go beyond the call of duty and whose achievements exceed the standards of excellence in their fields."

This note was modified from Brown's professional bio page at https://polisci.berkeley.edu/150w/wendy-brown in 2024

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access for analog materials, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. Advance notice is required to view any audiovisual media or born-digital records that may exist in this collection. Audiovisual media and born-digital records in this collection may not have been reformatted yet. Researchers may request access to copies by contacting the John Hay Library with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. Access to original physical audiovisual or born-digital media is restricted.
Use of the materials:	All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Wendy Brown papers, MS.2024.024, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University.
Contact information:	John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148 Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	Gift of Wendy Brown.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	This collection was processed by Erin Perfect, on behalf of the Pembroke Center for the Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-12-03.
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Curatorial work and processing provided by the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library.

Additional Information

Inventory

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