scholarly journals The application of Feminist Standpoint Theory in social research

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 307-318
Author(s):  
María Silvestre Cabrera ◽  
María López Belloso ◽  
Raquel Royo Prieto
Keyword(s):  
Social Research ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Feminist Epistemology ◽  
Feminist Standpoint Theory ◽  
Social Construction Of Reality ◽  
Feminist Standpoint ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
The Social ◽  
Situated Perspective

This article assumes a priori that feminist epistemology must necessarily imply the definition and application of a methodology that is capable of analysing knowledge from a situated perspective, making visible the restrictions of gender, class, ethnicity, and in summary, of the social location.  Feminist Standpoint Theory (FST) set out by authors such as Sandra Harding, calls on those who have not had access to power and areas of decision-making to participate in the construction of knowledge and in the social construction of reality. In this article, we will claim for a need of a sociological investigation based on FST and provide some examples and evidence of the knowledge generated by women's voices building on the analysis of 10 doctoral theses. The methodology used is based on the analysis of the topics chosen by the thesis, the formulation of its objectives and the bibliography used. Likewise, we have developed a so-called “Harding test” grounded on her postulates, which has allowed us to assess the doctoral theses analysed and to reflect about the empirical contributions of the research, the feminist commitment and what the subject / object relationship should be in feminist epistemology.

SITUATING FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY

Episteme ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Alana Ashton ◽  
Robin McKenna
Keyword(s):  
Social Constructivism ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Feminist Epistemology ◽  
Feminist Standpoint Theory ◽  
Feminist Standpoint ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
Core Idea ◽  
Feminist Epistemologies

ABSTRACTFeminist epistemologies hold that differences in the social locations of inquirers make for epistemic differences, for instance, in the sorts of things that inquirers are justified in believing. In this paper we situate this core idea in feminist epistemologies with respect to debates about social constructivism. We address three questions. First, are feminist epistemologies committed to a form of social constructivism about knowledge? Second, to what extent are they incompatible with traditional epistemological thinking? Third, do the answers to these questions raise serious problems for feminist epistemologies? We argue that some versions of two of the main strands in feminist epistemology – feminist standpoint theory and feminist empiricism – are committed to a form of social constructivism, which requires certain departures from traditional epistemological thinking. But we argue that these departures are less problematic than one might think. Thus, (some) feminist epistemologies provide a plausible way of understanding how (some) knowledge might be socially constructed.

Caught In-Between: Diversifying Tamil Women’s Voices From the Sri Lankan Civil War

2021 ◽  
pp. 153270862110503
Author(s):  
V. Michelle Michael
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Sri Lankan ◽  
Feminist Standpoint Theory ◽  
Art And Science ◽  
Feminist Standpoint ◽  
Women's Voices ◽  
Tamil Women

This is an autoethnographic invitation to make space for different standpoints of women caught in war. This multi-genre project reflects on the standpoint of the author’s family as a female-led, female-only household in the capital of Sri Lanka amid the civil war. Grounded on the concept of ethnicity without groups and feminist standpoint theory, this piece adds to the often-homogenized voices of Tamil women. Using integrated crystallization to challenge the dichotomy of art and science, this layered piece weaves together storytelling and theory-based critique to open conversations about wholesome representation. The stories reveal the multichrome nature of ethnicities that often get painted as monochromes. The analyses highlight the intersectionality of women’s position and sound the alarm for possible marginalization within the marginalized through a unidimensional expression. The author invites more voices to diversify the standpoints of women caught in the Sri Lankan civil war and contribute to a more comprehensive reality of their experiences.

Storytelling/Narrative

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shari Stone-Mediatore
Keyword(s):  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Power Relations ◽  
Democratic Theory ◽  
Transnational Feminism ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Feminist Epistemology ◽  
Feminist Standpoint Theory ◽  
Feminist Standpoint ◽  
Politics Of Knowledge

This article traces debates within feminist theory since the 1980s over the critical and democratic potential of experience-based storytelling. Focusing on accounts of storytelling that have developed within feminist standpoint theory, transnational feminism, feminist democratic theory, and feminist epistemology, the article examines arguments that experience-based narratives are necessary for more rigorous and inclusive civic and scholarly discussions. The article also examines the challenges that have been posed to storytelling from within feminist theory, including analyses that highlight the power relations, exclusions, and cultural conventions that characterize storytelling itself. The article explores what we might learn about the politics of knowledge from such varied but persistent feminist engagements with storytelling.

Positivism in the social sciences

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harold Kincaid
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Scientific Method ◽  
Quantitative Data ◽  
Social Research ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Methodological Individualism ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Social Convention ◽  
The Social

Positivism originated from separate movements in nineteenth-century social science and early twentieth-century philosophy. Key positivist ideas were that philosophy should be scientific, that metaphysical speculations are meaningless, that there is a universal and a priori scientific method, that a main function of philosophy is to analyse that method, that this basic scientific method is the same in both the natural and social sciences, that the various sciences should be reducible to physics, and that the theoretical parts of good science must be translatable into statements about observations. In the social sciences and the philosophy of the social sciences, positivism has supported the emphasis on quantitative data and precisely formulated theories, the doctrines of behaviourism, operationalism and methodological individualism, the doubts among philosophers that meaning and interpretation can be scientifically adequate, and an approach to the philosophy of social science that focuses on conceptual analysis rather than on the actual practice of social research. Influential criticisms have denied that scientific method is a priori or universal, that theories can or must be translatable into observational terms, and that reduction to physics is the way to unify the sciences. These criticisms have undercut the motivations for behaviourism and methodological individualism in the social sciences. They have also led many to conclude, somewhat implausibly, that any standards of good social science are merely matters of rhetorical persuasion and social convention.

Who Knows? Reflexivity in Feminist Standpoint Theory and Bourdieu

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 922-950
Author(s):  
Paige L. Sweet
Keyword(s):  
Social Power ◽  
Historical Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Relational Theory ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Feminist Standpoint Theory ◽  
Research Subjects ◽  
Feminist Standpoint ◽  
Reflexive Sociology ◽  
Object Of Study

Though the invocation to be “reflexive” is widespread in feminist sociology, many questions remain about what it means to “turn back” and resituate our work—about how to engage with research subjects’ visions of the world and with our own theoretical models. Rather than a superficial rehearsal of researcher and interlocutor standpoints, I argue that “reflexivity” should help researchers theorize the social world in relational ways. To make this claim, I draw together the insights of feminist standpoint theory and Bourdieu’s reflexive sociology to lay the foundation for a renewed reflexive project that centers epistemic privilege, the idea that positions of structural exclusion provide the best resources for theorizing social power. Reflexive sociology should consider interlocutors’ experiences of exclusion and contradiction, engaging with sites of alternative knowledge and incorporating them into the object of study. This type of reflexivity provides improved resources for relational theory building. I offer support for these theoretical arguments with a historical analysis of knowledge production in the feminist anti-violence movement.

A Socially Relevant Philosophy of Science? Resources from Standpoint Theory's Controversiality

Hypatia ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Harding
Keyword(s):  
Philosophy Of Science ◽  
Standpoint Theory ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Feminist Standpoint Theory ◽  
Feminist Standpoint ◽  
Western Intellectual ◽  
Socially Relevant

Feminist standpoint theory remains highly controversial: it is widely advocated, used to guide research and justify its results, and yet is also vigorously denounced. This essay argues that three such sites of controversy reveal the value of engaging with standpoint theory as a way of reflecting on and debating some of the most anxiety-producing issues in contemporary Western intellectual and political life. Engaging with standpoint theory enables a socially relevant philosophy of science.

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