• News
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Announcements
      • Calls for Papers
      • Vacancies
      • New PhD-research
    • Events
      • Events
      • NICA recommends
      • Event Calendar
  • Education
    • About NICA’s educational program
    • Course Overview
    • Core Courses
  • Research
    • Dissertation Defenses
    • Current PhD Research
    • Past PhD Research
  • Podcast
  • Organization
    • About us
    • Mission Statement
    • Becoming a member
    • Membership Directory
    • Organize an activity
  • Contact
  • Menu Menu

The Politics of Plasticity. Sex and Gender in the 21st Century Brain

September 18, 2012/in Dissertation Defenses /by Chantal

Annelies Kleinherenbrink | The aim of this project is to trace and reflect on the many different ways in which the notion of ‘neuroplasticity’ is conceptualized, deployed, circulated, shared, contested, rejected or ignored when the relationship between sex / gender and the brain is at stake. Referring to the ability of the brain to undergo functional and structural changes in response to experience, neuroplasticity has become a central concept in (popular) neuroscientific explanations of diverse and flexible human behaviors. Surprisingly, the potential role of this phenomenon is rarely discussed when it comes to the development, endurance and variability of gendered traits. As such, the popular view that binary sex is simply ‘hardwired’ in the brain remains largely unchallenged by counter-evidence. Critics, mostly feminist scholars, advocate and actively contribute to a more rigorous scientific practice, one which actively explores the question of plasticity. By blurring biological development and social experience, plasticity puts feminist and neuroscientific concerns into close contact  – for example, questions about the ‘neuronal embodiment’ of social relations immediately arise. Plasticity thus opens up a multidisciplinary space from which the relationship between sex / gender and the brain can be reappraised. However, critical scholars have raised concerns about the ramifications of approaching sex / gender through the plastic brain. What exactly does neuroscientific knowledge add to feminist scholarship about gender identity or sexuality?  What kind of subjectivity does the trope of neuroplasticity, with its associated norms and values (malleability, flexibility, therapeutic intervention, self-improvement), constitute? Driven by a desire for more complex understandings of the brain, yet apprehensive about the implications of the ‘neuro-turn’ currently imposing itself upon the humanities, I explore the potential – bot promising and perilous – neuroplasticity has for feminist theory.

Supervisor | Patricia Pisters

Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates about our news, lectures, seminars, workshops and more.

Share this page

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates about our news, lectures, seminars, workshops and more.

NICA archive 2010 – 2020

Read all articles published by Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis 2010 to 2020.

Affiliated Universities

  • Leiden University
  • Tilburg University
  • Radboud University
  • University of Amsterdam
  • Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • Erasmus University Rotterdam
  • Rijksuniversiteit Groningen
  • University of Maastricht
  • Utrecht University
  • Open University

National Research Schools

  • ARCHON, Research School of Archaeology
  • Huizinga Instituut
  • LOT, Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics
  • NISIS, Netherlands Interuniversity School of Islamic Studies
  • NOG, Netherlands Research School of Gender Studies
  • NOSTER, Netherlands School for Advanced Studies in Theology and Religion
  • OIKOS, National Research School in Classical Studies
  • OSK, Dutch Postgraduate School for Art History
  • OSL, Onderzoekschool Literatuurwetenschap
  • OZSW, Dutch Research School of Philosophy
  • Posthumus Institute, Research School for Economic and Social History
  • Research School for Medieval Studies
  • RSPH, Research School Political History
  • RMeS, Research School for Media Studies
  • WTMC, Netherlands Graduate Research School of Science, Technology and Modern Culture

Useful Links

  • Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA)
  • Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR)
  • Amsterdam Research Center for Gender and Sexuality (ARC-GS)
  • Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA)
  • Amsterdam School for Heritage, Memory and Material Culture (AHM)
  • Babylon: Center for the Study of Superdiversity, Tilburg University
  • Benelux Association for the Study of Art, Culture, and the Environment (BASCE)
  • Centre for BOLD Cities
  • Centre for Gender and Diversity, Maastricht University
  • Leiden University Centre for Cultural Analysis (LUCAS)
  • Platform for Postcolonial Readings
  • Radboud Institute for Culture & History (RICH)
  • Research Institute of the Faculty of Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Studies (PTR)
  • Environmental Humanities Center Amsterdam
  • Centre for Environmental Humanities (UU)
© 2025 - Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis (NICA)
Website by Nikolai NL Design Studio
  • Privacy
  • Contact
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top