Actualités

Methods are the inner framework of any research. They determine to a large extent the process of knowledge generation. Critical science therefore always needs methodological reflection especially when methods and their applications are evolving dynamically. Feminist criticism in political science has been sparked off by the basic attitudes of positivism and reductionist conceptualizations of varied realities. As a result, feminist research has always been committed to the analysis of structural social inequalities. This is reflected in its epistemological approach to gender relations and their exploration. Feminist political science can and should follow a variety of methods. Thus, Femina Politica is launching a special issue on the topic of « Creating Knowledge the Feminist Way » in legacy of the first and only issue 1/1997 « Experience(s) with Method(s) ». Since then, there have been significant methodological developments in the social sciences, as exemplified in the ‘practice turn’ or in the orientation to discourse. On the one hand, we want to reflect on the context of feminist research and its approaches of knowledge generation. To what extent does feminist research contribute to a better conceptualization of political processes and power relations and thus make them empirically ascertainable? On the other hand, methods are powerful instruments. We want to discuss the extent to which there has been a ‘feminization’ of different approaches to methods, whether certain areas of gender studies are dominated by certain methods, and whether we can speak of pressure to conduct quantitative research.