Feminist empiricism is a perspective within
feminist research that combines the objectives and observations of feminism with the research methods and
empiricism.
Feminist empiricism is typically connected to mainstream notions of
positivism. Feminist empiricism critiques what it perceives to be inadequacies and biases within mainstream research methods, including positivism.
Feminist empiricism is one of three main feminist
epistemological perspectives. The other two are
standpoint feminism
Standpoint feminism is a theory that feminist social science should be practiced from the standpoint of women or particular groups of women, as some scholars (e.g. Patricia Hill Collins and Dorothy Smith) say that they are better equipped to un ...
and
post-structural/postmodern feminism.
Example
In
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such a ...
rationalist feminism employs feminist empiricism to explain the political landscape. Rationalist feminism examines state, transnational and institutional actors, and specifically looks at causal relationships between these actors and gender issues.
Quantitative data
Quantitative research is a research strategy that focuses on quantifying the collection and analysis of data. It is formed from a deductive approach where emphasis is placed on the testing of theory, shaped by empiricist and positivist philoso ...
is used to relate gender to these phenomena. This may be done by directly correlating gender data to specific state behaviors, or indirectly by examining a "gender gap" through indirect causal relationships.
Popular perspectives linked to rationalist feminism within international relations include conventional
constructivism
Constructivism may refer to:
Art and architecture
* Constructivism (art), an early 20th-century artistic movement that extols art as a practice for social purposes
* Constructivist architecture, an architectural movement in Russia in the 1920s a ...
and
quantitative peace research.
Epistemological Perspectives
Standpoint feminism
Among other criticisms, standpoint feminism or also known anti-rational, argues that feminist empiricism cannot explain the way the political world works because the foundations on which it is built are based on the same gendered assumptions that all mainstream scientific inquiries face.
Feminist empiricism argues that, because of its epistemological outlook, it can tackle this inherent gender bias within scientific inquiry.
Post-modern feminism
Post-structural/post-modern feminist epistemology
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Epis ...
is entirely discursive, seeking to develop understanding through social analysis; to interpret rather than explain feminist theories in the political world.
Feminist empiricism is more likely to favor
qualitative data
Qualitative properties are properties that are observed and can generally not be measured with a numerical result. They are contrasted to quantitative properties which have numerical characteristics.
Some engineering and scientific properties are ...
. Objective measurements are seen as important to eliminating the
gender bias
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...
that exists.
Post-structuralism is inherently opposed to the idea of an
objective truth
In philosophy, objectivity is the concept of truth independent from individual subjectivity (bias caused by one's perception, emotions, or imagination). A proposition is considered to have objective truth when its truth conditions are met witho ...
in the
social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of so ...
. The belief is that those who study within the human sciences are ensnared by the same structures that affect the society in which they study.
[Buckler, S. (2010). Normative Theory. In D. Marsh, & G. Stoker (Eds.), ''Theory and Methods in Political Science'' (p. 170). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.] Post-structural feminism critiques the belief that any viewpoint is impartial; knowledge is not found but constructed.
A specific result of this disagreement is the way in which the two theories view gender: feminist empiricism claims that gender variables are based on biological sex, while post-structural/post-modern feminism sees gender as a socially constituted entity.
See also
*
Feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
*
Postmodern feminism
Postmodern feminism is a mix of post-structuralism, postmodernism, and French feminism. The goal of postmodern feminism is to destabilize the patriarchal norms entrenched in society that have led to gender inequality. Postmodern feminists see ...
*
Standpoint feminism
Standpoint feminism is a theory that feminist social science should be practiced from the standpoint of women or particular groups of women, as some scholars (e.g. Patricia Hill Collins and Dorothy Smith) say that they are better equipped to un ...
References
{{Feminist theory
Feminist movements and ideologies
Feminist theory
Feminism and society
Feminism and social class
Feminism and history