Judith Butler's importance for contemporary theory lies not in any one field, but at the crossroads of several of them, including Continental philosophy, feminism, queer theory, political theory, and cultural studies. She has taught a generation of scholars the importance of moving across these seemingly discrete rubrics, at the same time that her innovative interdisciplinary scope has been instrumental to the wide, if sometimes controversial, reception of her work. Originally trained in philosophy--but always, she repeatedly remarks, at a distance from its more institutionalized and legitimate forms--Butler has consistently demanded that philosophy be accountable to politics and that politics take seriously the questions that philosophy poses. In pursuing this reciprocal relation between philosophy and politics, Butler has risked reproach from some of the guardians of philosophy and the practitioners of politics. This risk is one that Butler continues to take, as she consistently refuses to shy away from...