"...an extremely welcome addition to the field of feminist research." British Journal of Educational Studies This is a clear and accessible exploration... of feminist method, methodology and epistemology. After situating herself and her work, Gayle Letherby charts the debates concerned with the epistemological, political and practical issues involved in doing feminist research, and places the debates within a wider consideration of the status of knowledge. The main focus of the book is then the particular and practical issues for feminist researchers. It examines how the process of research affects the results of that research and explores the relation between politics and practice in terms of research and knowledge production. Throughout the book there is a practical emphasis on specific examples of feminist research in action and, as well as summarizing current theoretical debates, Gayle Letherby adds to them. Feminist Research in Theory and Practice is designed and written as a textbook for students (at advanced undergraduate and postgraduate level) but will be a valuable resource for any researcher or individual interested in women's studies, feminism and in researching in the social sciences.

Feminist Research Practice: A Primer provides a unique, hands-on approach to exploring a range of feminist perspectives of the research process in... order to bridge the divide between theory and research methods. Editors Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber and Patricia Lina Leavy engage students with a clear and concise writing style and in-depth examples of a range of research methods from ethnography, oral history, focus groups, and content analysis to interviewing and survey research.

From two leading scholars in the field comes this landmark assessment of the shifting terrain of feminist rhetorical practices in recent decades.... Jacqueline Jones Royster and Gesa E. Kirsch contend the field of rhetorical studies is being transformed through the work of feminist rhetoricians who have brought about notable changes in who the subjects of rhetorical study can be, how their practices can be critiqued, and how the effectiveness and value of the inquiry frameworks can be articulated. To contextualize a new and changed landscape for narratives in the history of rhetoric, Royster and Kirsch present four critical terms of engagement—critical imagination, strategic contemplation, social circulation, and globalization—as the foundation for a new analytical model for understanding, interpreting, and evaluating feminist rhetorical inquiry and the study and teaching of rhetoric in general. This model draws directly on the wealth of knowledge and understanding gained from feminist rhetorical practices, especially sensitivity toward meaningfully and respectfully rendering the work, lives, cultures, and traditions of historical and contemporary women in rhetorical scholarship. Proposing ambitious new standards for viewing and valuing excellence in feminist rhetorical practice, Royster and Kirsch advocate an ethos of respect and humility in the analysis of communities and specific rhetorical performances neglected in rhetorical history, recasting rhetorical studies as a global phenomenon rather than a western one. They also reflect on their own personal and professional development as researchers as they highlight innovative feminist research over the past thirty years to articulate how feminist work is changing the field and pointing to the active participation of women in various discourse arenas and to the practices and genres they use. Valuable to new and established scholars of rhetoric, Feminist Rhetorical Practice: New Horizons for Rhetoric, Composition, and Literacy Studies is essential for understanding the theoretical, methodological, and ethical impacts of feminist rhetorical studies on the wider field.

The authors discuss the theories of nine feminists--Cheris Kramarae, bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldúa, Mary Daly, Starhawk, Paula Gunn Allen, Trinh T.... Minh-ha, Sally Miller Gearhart, and Sonia Johnson--who offer important, accessible insights into how individuals create and enact the worlds in which they choose to live. All of the theorists have made issues of symbol use central to their views of the world and have articulated feminist theories that have transformative potential for rhetorical theory. They represent different perspectives and positions on feminism that derive from standpoints that vary across race, ethnicity, and class. The authors organize the chapters on theorists around six components: a brief biography, the context in which her discussion of rhetoric occurs, her conceptualization of feminism, the kind of agent she sees acting in the world, the means available for acting in the world, and the potential transformations of theory that might result from her work. The authors hope the book serves as a point of entry to the theorist's original work and empowers individuals to think about feminism, rhetoric, and theory. Features and benefits of this book include: 1) fully developed rhetorical theories from feminist perspectives, offering feminist alternatives to traditional rhetorical theory; 2) coherent, systematic overviews of complex, large bodies of the work and ideas of feminist theorists whose ideas are relevant to rhetorical studies; and 3) theorists from diverse standpoints whose definitions of feminism demonstrate the diversity of feminism and of feminist rhetorical theories.

This essential text contains contributions from a wide range of fields and provides role models for feminist scientists. Including chapters from... scientists and feminist scholars, the book presents a wide range of feminist science studies scholarship-from autobiographical narratives and experimental and theoretical projects, to teaching tools and courses and community-based projects.

Feminists have been concerned to identify sexist assumptions implicit in the major philosophical traditions, and it is this commitment to gender equity... that has enabled them to make distinctive and important contributions to philosophy. Bringing together key articles in feminist ethics and social/political theory, this collection is structured to highlight salient concerns in contemporary feminist scholarship and the advances feminist philosophers have made. The main topics covered in this volume are constructions of gender; theorizing diversity - gender, race, class, and sexual orientation; figurations of women/woman as figuration; subjectivity, agency, and feminist critique; social identity, solidarity, and political engagement; care and its critics; women, equality and justice. Contributors include Judith Butler, Luce Irigaray, Julia Kristeva, Genevieve Lloyd and Chantal Mouffe.

This collection of thirteen life stories recaptures the history of a political and intellectual movement that created feminist sociology as a field of... inquiry. As the editors' introduction notes, the life history is a crucial tool for sociological thought. Life histories can be a bridge between individual experience and codified knowledge, between human agency and social structure. Life histories can enhance social theory by revealing categories of meaning usually submerged in the conventions of social science. The authors in this volume, all sociologists who have had great impact upon the field in which they write, show how personal relationships, experiences of inequality, and professional conflict and camaraderie interweave with the formation of social theory, political movements, and intellectual thought. The book makes a powerful impression upon anyone who has struggled with the relationship between social theory and everyday life. -- Accessible, lively articles that combine personal narrative with sociological theory. -- Contributors are some of the leading voices in feminist sociology.

"This wonderful book does nothing less than to create the next stage of feminist thought." —Catharine R. Stimpson"De Lauretis provides a way of... thinking about feminism that accepts rather than tries to resolve differences, that refuses fixed definitional categories and insists instead on the contradictory and changing meaning of gendered identities." —The Women's Review of Books"This is not a new collection but it is still one of the best." —Exceptional Human ExperienceThe essays in this collection represent very recent developments in feminist research and writing in the areas of history, scientific discourse, literary criticism, and cultural theory.The contributors are: Teresa de Lauretis, Linda Gordon, Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, Ruth Bleier, Evelyn Fox Keller, Jessica Benjamin, Nancy K. Miller, Tania Modleski, Sondra O'Neale, Sheila Radford-Hill, Cherrie Moraga, Biddy Martin, Chandra Talpade Mohanty, and Mary Russo.

Is there such a thing as a "feminist technology"? If so, what makes a technology feminist? Is it in the design process, in the thing itself, in... the way it is marketed, or in the way it is used by women (or by men)?   In this collection, feminist scholars trained in diverse fields consider these questions by examining a range of products, tools, and technologies that were specifically designed for and marketed to women. Evaluating the claims that such products are liberating for women, the contributors focus on case studies of menstrual-suppressing birth control pills, home pregnancy tests, tampons, breast pumps, Norplant, anti-fertility vaccines, and microbicides. In examining these various products, this volume explores ways of actively intervening to develop better tools for designing, promoting, and evaluating feminist technologies. Recognizing the different needs and desires of women and acknowledging the multiplicity of feminist approaches, Feminist Technology offers a sustained debate on existing and emergent technologies that share the goal of improving women's lives.   Contributors are Jennifer Aengst, Maia Boswell-Penc, Kate Boyer, Frances Bronet, Shirley Gorenstein, Anita Hardon, Deborah G. Johnson, Linda L. Layne, Deana McDonagh, and Sharra L. Vostral.

Rethinking the Christian faith from a woman's perspective has been an important advancement in modern theology. This book introduces the methods, ideas,... and contributions of recent feminist theology to readers encountering the subject for the first time. Natalie Watson explores the historical background of feminist theology, discusses the value of reading Scripture from a feminist perspective, and shows how this approach can offer a critical, creative, and constructive rereading of the Christian tradition. She also sets forth some fresh ideas encouraging people to see feminism not as a threat to the church but as a challenging perspective that actually enhances its life in today's world. An extensive annotated bibliography invites readers to further study, presenting a wealth of books on feminist theology by many well-known authors. Ideal for classroom instruction, discussion groups, and personal study, this volume is an exceptional, user-friendly guide to contemporary feminist thought.

This book, which introduces the underscoring plural perspectives in feminist theories, covers a chronology of over five centuries (from the 1600s to... 2000s) in feminist work and theorizing, while introducing contemporary discourses that challenge monolithic representations of feminism. It engages the major critiques of mainstream feminism, including its exclusionary practices and limitations. The Feminist Theories and Education Primer also discusses the importance of feminist research analysis, specifically the need to genuinely comprehend the influence of ideology and subjectivity in the process of research. The author questions commonly understood binaries in understanding gender, identity, sexuality, and education in order to forge new areas of theorizing the politics of self and other while destabilizing established power hierarchies. The book concludes with a discussion of feminist pedagogy and activism, stressing the significance of analyzing pedagogy and working to create more open feminist and democratic spaces for learning. The Feminist Theories and Education Primer is ideal for courses in feminist theory, feminism, women’s studies, gender studies, feminist research, feminist pedagogy, and cultural foundations. Appropriate for either an advanced undergraduate or graduate audience, the book is replete with resources and references that are extremely instructive and useful in pursuing other areas of research, organizations, media, and current sites for feminist work. Overall, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the progressive discussions in feminist theory over the last several decades.

This long-awaited text charts clearly and comprehensively the enormously important area of feminist theory -- and brings it into fruitful conversation... with Christian theology. Jones introduces the primary concerns that animate feminist theory through discussion of critical texts and through women's narratives. She shows how they pose uncomfortable questions, and leave no corner of the Christian tradition unchallenged. Jones unfolds feminist theory in three broad categories that analyze human identity and gender, oppression, and ethics. She then illustrates their potential for illuminating theological categories of experience, truth, text, and norm to revitalize three key traditional Christian doctrines: faith, sin, and church.

Without the body there would be no feminist theory. And it's possible to say that without feminist theory there would be no modern "body." The body has... long been a contested site in feminist circles. From debates about motherhood, pregnancy, and abortion, discussions of pleasure and sex, to more philosophical discussions of embodiment and the gendering of bodies, the major thinkers of feminist theory have reshaped our ideas of how women and men understand what the body is.In "Feminist Theory and the Body" Price and Shildrick bring together over 40 of the world's greatest feminist writers to represent the key arguments from all of the different feminist schools of thought on the body. The book's seven sections cover Woman as Body?, Sexy Bodies, Bodies in Science and Biomedicine, After the Binary, Altered Bodies, BodySpaceMatter and Performing the Body. It includes articles on race, cyberspace, theatre, classics, transsexuality, reproductive technologies, illness, rape, plastic surgery, disabilities and much, much more.Contributors: Anne Balsamo, Christine Battersby, Lynda Birke, Susan Bordo, Rosie Braidotti, Judith Butler, Sue-Ellen Case, Fen Coles, Barbara Creed, Kathy Davis, Heather Findlay, Moira Gatens, Elizabeth Grosz, Judith Halberstam, Evelyn Hammonds, Donna Haraway, Luce Irigaray, Ludmilla Jordanova, Audre Lorde, Helen Marshall, Emily Martin, Trinh T. Min-ha, Nalini Natarajan, Pratibha Parmar, Janet Price, Denise Riley, Gillian Rose, Andrea Benton Rushing, Jana Sawicki, Londa Schiebinger, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, Lynn Segal, Margrit Shildrick, Felly Nkweto Simmonds, Elizabeth Spelman, Anne Fausto-Sterling, Kristina Straub, Awa Thiam, Alice Walker, Susan Wendell, Juniper Wiley, Jeanette Winterson, Bibi Bakare-Yusuf.

Taking a performance-centered perspective on folklore, contributors to this volume challenge patriarchal assumptions of the past and rethink old topics... from a feminist perspective while opening new areas of research. In eighteen chapters, the book covers girls' games, political cartoons, quilting, Pentecostal preachers, daily housework, Egyptian goddesses, tall tales, and birth. This hallmark collection of feminist folklore will be a valuable resource for scholars and other interested readers.