Social Constructionism in Critical Feminist Theory and Research

Abstract

Social constructionism in sociology is not limited to the constructionist perspective on social problems. It also includes the so-called labeling theory of deviance, the case study tradition in fieldwork research, and symbolic interactionism, the conceptual framework most fieldworkers have used. Feminist constructionism developed independently of the social constructionism of symbolic interactionists, out of the politics and epistemology of feminist theory. Critical feminist theory shares with other theories an emphasis on the historically specific, economic, and political structures within which people construct the meanings they use to organize their conduct. When feminist theory is coupled with feminist fieldwork like Glenn's, it becomes a critical theory in practice, a way of describing oppressive social structures without reproducing them by diverting attention away from them and valorizing individuals and their collective activities. Critical theory in practice interrupts our traditional, social constructionist perspectives and practices.