What’s feminist about feminist economics?

Abstract

ABSTRACTWhat’s feminist about feminist economics? Is it the employment of particular feminist methodological approaches, about ‘seeing’ women instead of assuming economic subjects are gender neutral or studying topics relevant for feminist politics? This paper analyses the research methodologies of articles published in the journal Feminist Economics from 1995 to 2015 in light of the prescriptions of feminist economic methodology using a tiered classification scheme. Although feminist economic methodology has emphasized the importance of contextual, reflexive and qualitative methods, articles published in the journal reflect a largely quantitative orientation. The research shows a heavy empirical tilt in the second decade driven by the use of econometrics with much less emphasis on theoretical issues and economic methodology. Past and present editors of the journal are interviewed to reflect on these findings. Feminist empiricism, institutional barriers to methodological pluralism, the background and training of researchers and professional pressures might be driving these shifts.