In Subjectivity Without Subjects, well-known philosopher and feminist theorist, Kelly Oliver looks at aspects of popular culture, film, science and law to examine contemporary notions of paternity and maternity.

Oliver studies the roles of paternal responsibility, virility and race in such events as the Million Man March and the growth of the Promise Keeper's movement and suggests alternative ways to conceive of self-other relations and the subjective identity at stake in them. In addition she offers a detailed analysis of particular works by such well-known film-makers as Polanski, Bergman and Varda in developing a theory of identity that opens the subject to otherness or difference.