NCJ Number
180045
Journal
Theoretical Criminology Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: August 1999 Pages: 287-306
Date Published
1999
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This analysis of how knowledge about women is produced considers and attempts to reconcile the positions of standpoint feminists such as Maureen Cain and postmodern feminists such as Carol Smart, using the author's experience of doing research with women in prison
Abstract
The author's research over 5 years gathered information from 727 female inmates in Canada, revealed that 80 percent reported histories of physical and sexual abuse, and led to interviews with 24 female inmates and the 1996 publication of a book titled "Women in Trouble." The standpoint of the women in prison was of their experiences, understandings, and analyses and was something different from a feminist standpoint as presented in the standpoint feminist literature. Standpoint epistemology asserts that all women share a set of common experiences that derive from their oppression. In contrast, postmodern feminism emphasizes the role of language and discourse in how people are constituted and how they constitute themselves. The analysis concludes that standpoint feminism has helped reframe the terrain on which epistemology can be done, but that it is transitional and should be considered an effort that informs an ongoing practical struggle. Giving voice to knowledge that has been silenced is a crucial component of that struggle. However, examining the two meanings of standpoint (the women's standpoint and the feminist standpoint) makes it possible to address more effectively the issues raised by feminists. Notes and 36 references (Author abstract modified)