The peripherals at the core of androcentric knowledge production: an analysis of the managing editor’s knowledge work in The International Encyclopedia of Education (1985)

Abstract

ABSTRACT Building on the approach that knowledge is socially constructed, this study aims to deepen the understanding of knowledge production processes by adapting the concept of a laboratory on an historical example of editorial collaboration. We use the editorial process of The International Encyclopedia of Education (IEE) (1985) as an example. Considering knowledge as situated in contrast to the illusion of objectivity, the paper pursues identifying a perspective on the editing process that is located in its periphery. Rooted in constructivist assumptions of Science and Technology Studies (STS) andFeminist Standpoint Theory (FST), the paper builds on the potential of understanding the social construction of knowledge by taking marginalised perspectives into account. Including the concept of gendered division of labour, the approach offers a deeper understanding of the editorial process, beyond the presented picture of relevant actors and actions. The source material consists of correspondence concerning the editorial process of the encyclopaedia, which is filed in the archive of Torsten Husén. There, we encountered the publisher’s managing editor Barbara Barrett, the only woman in the editorial board of the IEE’s first edition. By analysing almost 4000 pages of correspondence by coding according to qualitative content analysis it is possible to show that the kind of work that Barrett performed was much more central than presented. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of knowledge production processes and of related marginalisation of certain groups in the past. Hereby, it offers a departure point for reflecting upon present practices.