Key Concepts in Feminist Theory and Research

This original and engaging text explores the core concepts in feminist theory.

This up-to-date text addresses the implications of postmodernism and post-structuralism for feminist theorizing. It identifies the challenges of this through the development of ′conceptual literacy′. Introducing conceptual literacy as a pedagogic task, this text facilitates students′ understanding of, for example:

- The range and lack of fixity of conceptualizations and meanings of key terms;

- The significance of theoretical framework for conceptualization of key terms;

- The changing nature of language and the reframing of key terms in research (eg the recent shift from equality to social justice);

The text explores these issues through six key concepts in feminist theorizing: equality; difference; choice; care; time; and experience. Each chapter considers the varied ways in which these terms have been conceptualised and the feminist debates about these concepts. Each chapter includes case studies to illustrate the application of these concepts in feminist empirical research, and provides a guide to further reading.

This text will be an invaluable tool for students taking courses in feminist theory and research methods, and students across the social sciences who are taking courses concerned with issues of gender.

I am a Professor of Women and Gender and, currently, Chair of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Warwick. Previously I have taught and undertaken research at the University of Warwick in the Centre for Education, Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR), the Department of Applied Social Studies and the Department of Continuing Education. I have also worked for the Open University. My research interests have always been strongly feminist. This has led to work on stepfamily life, lifelong learning and higher education and more recently with artisan entrepreneurs. I try to bring a strong conceptual frame to my work and I have a number of publications that have been concerned with social capital, equality, envy and pleasure. My work with artisan entrepreneurs is leading to several streams of analysis. Through the notion of Salivary Identities this includes an exploration of the intra-actions between neuroscientific understandings of pleasure and the culture of jewellery designer making. Issues of distinction, disidentification and economic value are also of concern in further work I am developing. My research interests have also always been focussed on methodological concerns. My most recent work here has been on feminist quantitative methodologies (see Feminism Counts: Quantitative Methods and Researching Gender (2011) Oxford, Routledge (Edited with Rachel Cohen). I have also published on dissemination of qualitative research. I have been particularly interested in what, and who, gets heard and why. Again, I bring a feminist and political lens to this work as I seek to promote an ′informed practice′ in the field of dissemination. Such informed practice takes account of the emotional realm of dissemination, the ethics of representation; and the challenge of ′post′ (postmodernism, postcolonialism, poststructuralism) epistemological thought. I also continue to work with my colleagues Loraine Blaxter and Malcolm Tight. We have just completed the fourth edition of the highly successful text How to Research (2010) Buckingham, Open University Press.