Feminist Standpoint Theory: Conceptualization and Utility

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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v14i0.27357

Keywords:

feminist standpoint theory, feminist epistemologies, feminist methodology, feminist inquiry

Abstract

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.

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Author Biography

Lina Gurung, Kathmandu University, School of Education

Lina Gurung  is a Ph.D. Scholar at Kathmandu University, School of Education (KUSOED). She worked in KUSOED as a faculty from 2012 to2015. Currently, she is working as a gender coordinator in NORHED Project under KUSOED. Gurung is engaged in the education sector as a teacher in the school and higher education for almost two decades. Her research interest focuses on online and distance education, gender and technology, women and media, feminist pedagogy, gender and development, and gender-responsive curriculum.

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Published

2020-12-30

How to Cite

Gurung, L. (2020). Feminist Standpoint Theory: Conceptualization and Utility. Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology, 14, 106–115. https://doi.org/10.3126/dsaj.v14i0.27357

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Articles