Feminist Standpoint Research Articles

Career constructions and a feminist standpoint on the meaning of context

AbstractThis paper explores how context shapes the career constructions of 40 Lebanese female professionals. Starting with career construction theory (CCT), we leverage feminist standpoint theory (FST) to propose a hybrid analytic framework. With this framework, we invite CCT researchers to theorize career constructions as situated. The situatedness of career constructions calls for the exploration of an individual's career choices, coupled with the simultaneous potential constraints on choice emanating from collective experiences of historical and sociopolitical oppression. Theorizing contextual complexities in this way leads to a more nuanced tracing of how the personal experiences of challenge, and for some, the oppressive aspects of collective histories are selectively used to construct a cohesive sense of career storied self, each with distinctive implications for the domains of CCT—Vocational Personality (the what), Career Adaptability (the how), and Life Theme (the why). Our analysis reveals three key patterns: (1) advancing the professional field (vocational expert), (2) seeking self‐vindication (adaptive rebel), and (3) engaging in activism (sympathetic activist vs. epistemically privileged activist). We conclude by discussing the value of our framework, thereby highlighting how acknowledging situatedness helps to inform our understandings of career patterns and of the “politicization” of career trajectories.

Making Sense of “Microaggression”

Though philosophers are beginning to pay attention to the phenomenon of microaggressions, they are yet to fully draw on their training and skills in conceptual analysis to help make sense of what microaggression is. In this paper, I offer a philosophical analysis of the concept of microaggression. I ultimately argue that ‘microaggression’ as a concept gets its meaning not by decomposing into a set of necessary and sufficient conditions, but rather by means of what Ludwig Wittgenstein (1953) has called “family resemblance.” That is to say, what unifies the concept of microaggression is a set of common, overlapping features that link related instances together, but are not necessarily all present in all cases. I identify and explain a common set of features that together form the basis for a family resemblance account of the concept. I then argue that despite the difficulty that microaggressions pose in terms of being reliably recognized and understood as such, some people, in virtue of their epistemic standpoint, are better suited to recognize these features and subsequently identify instances of micraoggression in practice. I argue this by drawing on the vast literature in feminist standpoint epistemology (Alcoff, 1993; Hill Collins, 1990, 2004; hooks, 2004; Harding, 2004, 2008; Wylie, 2013).

Feminist Standpoint Theory: Conceptualization and Utility

Feminist Standpoint theory challenges the notion of conventional scientific practices that had excluded women from the inquiry and marginalize them in every aspect of knowledge benefits and construction. Amidst the prevalent controversies, standpoint theorists have proposed alternative knowledge construction with the theses of ‘strong objectivity’, ‘situated knowledge’, ‘epistemic advantage’, and ‘power relations’. Feminist standpoint theory is claimed to be a successful methodology and the author support this argument based on the four reasons; the logic of discovery, insider-outsider position, study up, and methodological innovation. The author also put forwards the various challenges confronted by feminist standpoint theory and the justification given by the theorists. The cognitive, methodological, and epistemological interrogations toward this theory have widened its scope and adoption in social science research. The paper aims to suggest this analysis as the most suitable analytical and theoretical approach to do feminist inquiry which brings the understanding of feminist epistemologies as the most appropriate alternative approach of recent inquires against the dominant practices.

Women in Lithuanian School Management: An Ethnographic Perspective

The research takes on a transdisciplinary approach, focusing on paths of how female school principals construct and develop professional identity. Two major approaches to professional identity include a feminist standpoint and a social constructionist approach. The former claims are that females are underrepresented as leaders in most facets of work life due to gender role stereotypes, prejudices, and unequal power distribution. The latter subscribes to the notion that a person’s identities are multiple and fluid due to their cultural, historic, and social situatedness. According to a feminist standpoint, female identities are developed very differently from their male counterparts as a systemic hierarchy of inequity above the principalship is recognized. Despite the fact that the number of female school principals has been growing in the field of education management, a masculine approach is still being applied in this sphere due to the prevailing dominance of power culture in the society. The study is framed as an ethnographic case study. It aims to understand, investigate, and discover the patterns of how professional identity, as a cultural construct, is acquired in the context of concepts of agency, power relations, subjectivities within gender, and social analysis, encompassing multiple interactions in institutionalized processes and systems by which they are formed, shaped, and reshaped over time.

The post-racial princess: Delusions of racial progress and intersectional failures

Meghan Markle’s marriage to Prince Harry sparked a global debate about the extent to which the union marked progress in British race relations with the royal family embracing “modern Britain”. Rather than representing progress the furore around the marriage is the perfect example of the delusions of post-racialism, which entrench racial inequality. The royal family is one of the premier symbols of Whiteness, the very idea that the inclusion of Markle changes this demonstrates a lack of understanding of racism. Seeing the marriage as progress is an intersectional failure that ignores the limits of representational change as well as the specific limits of Markle as a representative of Black women, particularly in Britain. Issues of patriarchy, nationality, class and colourism prevent Markle representing the average Black woman in Britain. Embracing a Black feminist standpoint negates the idea of representational change because no individual can ever stand in for the collective.

Gender differences in dentistry: A qualitative study on students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for entering dentistry at higher education.

Having a balanced gender distribution is thought to ensure the diversity of knowledge and know-how and take better into account the different needs in society. The aim of the study is to explore and understand possible gender differences in (a) the students' motivational spectrum to choose a dental education and (b) their prospect of a professional career in dentistry. We conducted in-depth interviews with male and female dental students (n=14) followed by a theoretical reading based on Self-Determination Theory to explore the students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for entering dentistry in Denmark. Regardless gender, the dental students are motivated by role models, people orientation and strong interest in health sciences, but prefer dentistry to medicine, because of the responsibilities and working conditions. They were also motivated by the dental school's combination of theory and practice in students' learning of craftsmanship. Moreover, students valued the prospect of job security and a good work-life balance. However, there were markedly gender differences in motivation in relation to financial incentives as well as working life and career as a dentist, as it seemed that dental students needed gendered relatedness in relation to specialisation and employment in public versus private sector. The motivational spectrum varies widely, regardless of gender. In line with the standpoint feminist theory, a balanced gender distribution in dental education helps to meet the different needs in society and labour market. Consequently, a gender-sensitive recruitment strategy reflecting the gender differences in identities, knowledge and interests will be needed.

The politics of memory in post-accord Colombia: interventions from women social leaders and decolonial feminisms

ABSTRACT This article contributes to critical heritage debates through exploring the politics of memory in the Colombian peace process with the left-wing guerrilla group FARC-EP. Following the signature of the Peace Accord in 2016 with the FARC-EP, the current right-wing government’s (2018–2022) denialist politics have resulted in a lack of compliance of the Accord and a ‘battle for memory’. In a context of ongoing conflict and violence, I present the interventions of twelve women social leaders who were interviewed between November 2019 and January 2020. From a decolonial feminist standpoint, I narrate the contestations and nuances of the politics of memory in times of ongoing conflict and entangle these with social leaders’ heterogeneous demands for collective place-based memory, truth and justice. The interventions of social leaders involved in historical memory processes reveal an urgent need to address the instrumentalisation of memory and security concerns due to ongoing violence in post-Accord Colombia. Through centring women social leaders’ interventions and decolonial feminisms this paper seeks to contribute to ongoing national and international debates on the constructions of historical memory in times of ongoing violence and coloniality, which promote place-based, collective, democratic, plural and empathetic memory, heritage and peacemaking.

Who Knows? Reflexivity in Feminist Standpoint Theory and Bourdieu

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.

Gendering the Legal Complex: Women in Sri Lanka's Legal Profession

AbstractDrawing upon feminist standpoint theory and interviews with pioneering women lawyers in Sri Lanka, I argue for a focus on women as a distinct category in ‘legal complex theory’. I consider the following questions in making this claim. What were the internal structures of the legal profession that the older generations of women lawyers encountered as they entered the profession and as they took up positions of leadership? In what ways, if at all, was the ‘culture(s)’ within the profession patriarchal? In what ways, if any, did the entry and advancement of women impact these internal structures of the profession and its culture(s)? And what can we learn from these experiences in predicting the future trajectory of the legal profession? The analytical expansion that I propose reveals gender‐based dynamics within the legal complex, such as gender‐stereotyped perceptions about women lawyers within the profession, the ‘feminization’ of the profession, and ‘gender segmentation’ within its different spheres.

What it means to be a woman in the field of biomedical informatics: exploring the lived experiences of women managers in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Although women in the field of biomedical informatics (BMI) are part of a golden era, little is known about their lived experiences as informaticians. Guided by feminist standpoint theory, this study aims to understand the impact of social change in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia- in the form of new policies supporting women and health technological advancements-in the field of BMI and its women informaticians. We conducted semistructured telephone interviews with 7 women managers in the field of BMI, identified through LinkedIn. We analyzed interview transcripts to generate themes about their lived experiences, how they perceived health information technology tools, identified challenges that may hinder the advancement of the field, and explored the future of BMI from their perspectives. During our analysis, we utilized a feminist theoretical approach. Women managers in the field of BMI shared similar experiences and perspectives. Our analysis generated 10 themes: (1) career beginning, (2) opportunities given, (3) career achievements, (4) gender-based experiences, (5) meaning of BMI, (6) meaning of health information technology tools, (7) challenges, (8) overcoming challenges, (9) future and hopes, and (10) meaning of "2030 Saudi vision." Early in their careers, participantsexperienced limited opportunities and misperceptions in understanding what the field of informatics represents. Participants did not feel that gender was an issue, despite what feminist theory would have predicted. Recognizing the lived experiences of women in the field of BMI contributes to our collective understanding of how these experiences may enhance our knowledge of the field.

From actions to words: FEMEN’s fourth-wave manifestos

Since its creation in 2008 in Ukraine, FEMEN has fascinated mainstream audiences and scholars alike. Yet few studies have dealt with FEMEN’s writings in French. While the lack of translations may partially explain this critical gap, the overall dismissal of FEMEN and its impact on contemporary feminisms participates in the historic marginalisation of women’s contributions to the arts, the sciences, or society at large. Recognising the organisation’s problematic standpoints, this article demonstrates how, going from action to words, FEMEN’s collective book publications, Manifeste FEMEN and Rébellion, contribute to, and complicate, contemporary feminist thought and debates. Inscribing themselves in the feminist manifesto tradition, both books articulate a fourth-wave feminist standpoint, and through FEMEN’s assessment of their actions, the organisation unveils Western democracies’ tartufferies regarding secularism and equal rights. FEMEN’s manifestos also generate a reflection on the (im)possibility of a universal, global approach to feminism, namely, due to their Islamophobic stances.

ILLUMINATI(NG) THE SEARCH PROCESS: THEORIZING THE RESEARCH PRACTICES OF "ALTERNATIVE" OR "CONTROVERSIAL" RESEARCH

Previous scholarship has examined how conspiracy theories spread online; addressed the question of what conspiracy theorists believe and why; asked whether or not conspiracy theorizing is a reasonable form of sense-making; and characterized the socio-cultural effects of conspiracy theories. Yet, the research practices of those who explore topics that have been labeled “conspiracy theories,” remain under-examined and under-theorized. Existing at the convergence of three interdisciplinary areas of scholarship—the study of conspiracy theory/ies, information seeking and behavior (e.g., research practices), and archival studies--this project will present preliminary dissertation research. The data will come from in-depth, qualitative interviews with individuals who regularly conduct research into one of three topics: the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 1947 incident in Roswell, New Mexico, and the Missing 411 phenomenon. Interviews are semi-structured, addressing participants’ experiences of different modes of research: within a research community, in isolation (by themselves), and with the help of a reference archivist or librarian, among others that may emerge. This paper will also feature reflexive grounded theory analysis of my own feminist standpoint as a researcher and interviewer.

Gender in Socio-Legal Teaching and Research in Germany

AbstractGender in socio-legal teaching and research in Germany is a story of impediments, hindrances, and of singleperson initiatives—my personal history being a part of this. But it is also a story of influences upon the impulse and inspiration to undertake socio-legal work. My Article is therefore influenced by (feminist) standpoint theory (Harding 1991). Germany has had a very conservative family culture and, over the past decades, many of the legal regulations that infringed upon women have had to be adapted, in what was quite a tedious political process, to comply with the German Constitution’s gender equality clause. Only in the past decade has gender awareness in law faculties increased and gained acceptance, usually as a result of greater focus on diversity issues, and anti-discrimination legislation. Obstacles have resulted from a lack of cooperation between the actors in social sciences and law, as well as in academia and gender equality practice, and a lack of understanding between more conservative and more progressive women. Socio-legal research was, and is, needed to deliver empirical evidence and provide theoretical foundations for cultural and legal changes as societies progress towards gender equality. Socio-legal teaching is needed to alert lawyers to necessary change, to enable them to undertake informed critique, and to prepare them to act. There are, however, marked deficits in socio-legal teaching and research on gender. In spite of an increased political acceptance, gender equality is still mainly a women’s project.

Gender responsive budgeting and the COVID-19 pandemic response: a feminist standpoint

Acknowledging the need for more gender work in Public Administration, this paper engages feminist standpoint theory to analytically frame the outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic from a feminist perspective. By assessing the differential impact of the pandemic on women and men in the United States across several sectors of the political economy and society, it is apparent women face immense obstacles in the labor market, as well as in access to health, food and housing. This analytical approach is in line with the United Nation’s fifth Sustainable Development Goal, gender equity. The imperative to include women’s perspectives in pandemic response and planning is juxtaposed against the current pandemic response that primarily leaves women out of the decision-making process. The policy tool of gender responsive budgeting, successfully implemented in various countries, is proposed to offset the gender inequities triggered by the pandemic in the U.S.

“Should I Stay, or Should I Go?”: The Experiences of, and Choices Available to Women of South Asian Heritage Living in the UK When Leaving a Relationship of Choice Following Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)

Researching South Asian women who have departed social norms and married outside the social conventions of their culture widens our understanding and knowledge on the topic of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV). This paper will investigate how the women participating in the research navigated the socialisation of arranged marriage and expectations on them as women, and how this influenced their decisions to remain in violent and abusive relationships. Often without family support or the “safety net” of an arranged marriage, the women stayed in abusive relationships longer than they would have done if the marriage had been arranged. The findings show that the women’s experiences of leaving the relationship are mediated by the context of forming an intimate relationship. A qualitative research approach using Black Feminist Standpoint Epistemology employed thematic analysis to give voice to South Asian women’s experiences and insights into their experiences of, and responses to, leaving abusive relationships. The analysis shows that women’s agentic act of choosing a partner became the very barrier to leaving the relationship if it turned violent and abusive.

Exotic beauty, mail-order bride, secret agent: the stereotyped experiences of Russian women immigrating to the United States

ABSTRACT The researchers interviewed 16 women about their experiences immigrating from the Russian Federation to the United States. An interpretive analysis of these women's stories revealed three strategies employed during the immigration process. This analysis also revealed how these women perceived agency and how perceptions varied depending on the available communication and social affordances. These in-depth interviews provide new insights about the challenges women face when immigrating from Russia. Participants described that they felt stereotyped in diverse ways. Some described how many Americans, and some Russians, perceived all women from Russia as mail-order brides. Participants also reported other ascribed labels, often drawn from stereotypical Russian tropes (e.g. Secret Agent). These women explained how these stereotypes influenced their ability to adapt to the United States and, in turn, the immigration strategies they employed. A discussion of how these findings contribute to feminist standpoint theory, sensemaking, and agency concludes the paper.

“The Other Side”: Assessing the Polarization of Gender Knowledge Through a Feminist Analysis of the Affective-Discursive in Anti-Feminist Online Communities

AbstractGiven the current polarization of gender knowledge in the public discourse, this article investigates the “other side” of gender knowledge production. Building on feminist standpoint literature, I conduct a close reading of the affective-discursive dynamics of knowledge production in two anti-feminist online communities in the United States and India. I find that anti-feminist communities appropriate feminist practices of consciousness-raising to construct a shared sense of victimization. This appropriation is, however, incomplete. In contrast to feminist practices, anti-feminist knowledge generation is premised on the polarizing themes of “ultimate victimhood” and “ultimate other,” which lead to violence and exclusion, rather than liberation.

Towards a critical realist epistemology?

AbstractWhen critical realists consider epistemology they typically start from “epistemological relativism.” We find this position necessary, but we also find it insufficient because it lacks a critique of the highly unequal social relations among observers themselves—relations that shape the very production of knowledge. While it is indeed the case that all knowledge is fallible, it is also the case that all knowledge is positioned, with a particular standpoint. What is more, the social power relations between standpoints organize the production of truth in ways that produce systematic distortions. In this paper, we propose a critical realist social epistemology. We introduce feminist standpoint theory and postcolonial theory as our suggested interventions into critical realism and we use two case studies of existing work to highlight i) the social production of truth and the real, and ii) what is at stake for radicalizing epistemology in critical realism. In so doing, our paper emphasizes the epistemic complexities that continuously shape ontology, a commitment to subaltern voices or experiences, and a thorough interrogation of the relations between positions of knowledge production.

Mission Unaccomplished: Beyond “Talk[ing] a Good Game” To Promote Diversity and Inclusion

Guided by feminist standpoint theory and scholars’ calls to move beyond merely counting individuals to understand the extent to which higher education institutions are diverse, the authors invited faculty members, staff members, and administrators from minoritized groups to describe their perceptions and experiences, including those associated with diversity and inclusion efforts at their institutions. In association with various dynamics, these individuals frequently described such initiatives as mostly talk with little to no meaningful objectives and outcomes. Based on these findings, we provide a three-step process that can be followed to disrupt and dismantle systems of (dis)advantage to promote greater diversity and inclusion.

Violence and violation: A Palestinian reading of rape and revenge in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus

ABSTRACT This paper employs the methodologies of feminism, new historicism and presentism to argue that Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is a conflict between patriarchal and matriarchal voices. From a feminist standpoint, the verbal and physical violence the play enacts emanates from male figures’ deafness to the female voice. Shakespeare dismantles the virgin-whore dichotomy in the figures of Lavinia and Tamora, who mimic patriarchal prescriptions on female speech and silence and, in the latter case, the patriarchal speech of authority. Reading Titus alongside its historical context, I argue that this tragedy endorses the conventional association of woman’s speech with wantonness possibly in connection with cultural anxieties about Elizabeth’s public, often spectacular role. Titus Andronicus prefigures the new historicist ideology of containing opposing voices. The dominant male powers deliberately foster the subversive behaviour of others (Tamora, Lavinia, and Aaron) in order to crush them publicly and so assert their dominance. In addition to these methodologies, I deploy the critical thread of presentism to reveal trans-cultural and trans-historical continuities between the fictional world of Titus Andronicus and contemporary Palestine. For Palestinian scholars of English, this tragedy speaks of the gendering of nationalism as female in Palestinian national narratives, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, honour killing, and the construction of nation as narration.