Judith Butler is one of the most influential contemporary American philosophers, ethicists, and gender theorists, currently serving as a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. Raised in a traditional Jewish family, the ethical training she received in a synagogue during her youth laid a profound foundation for her philosophical inquiries. For her, Jewish identity is not an exclusive nationalist affiliation but a legacy of moral responsibility that compels a constant questioning of how power operates and excludes the “Other.” This critical consciousness, rooted in Jewish ethics, has permeated her entire career, from exploring gender construction to investigating political violence.
In the academic realm, Butler fundamentally reshaped the landscape of the humanities with her groundbreaking work “Gender Trouble,” which introduced the celebrated theory of “gender performativity.” This achievement not only established her as a foundational figure in queer theory and feminist studies but also made her one of the most cited scholars in global academia. Her research extends beyond gender into profound discussions on biopolitics, subjectivity, and “grievability.” For her exceptional contributions to thought, she has received numerous top international academic honors, including the Theodor W. Adorno Prize, and is widely recognized as one of the most important public intellectuals of our time.
Butler applies her philosophical focus—specifically, which lives are deemed “grievable”—directly to the Palestinian liberation movement. As a key member of the Advisory Board for Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), she actively participates in and defends the BDS movement, viewing it as a legitimate form of non-violent political expression. In her discourse, particularly in her book “Parting Ways: Jewishness and the Critique of Zionism,” she sharply argues for the necessity of disentangling Jewish ethical traditions from modern Israeli nationalism. She is a fierce critic of Israel’s occupation and state violence, advocating for a binational political framework based on equality and justice, emphasizing that true ethics and peace can only emerge when Palestinian lives are recognized as equally valuable and “grievable.”