Standpoint Theory - Essay Example

6 May Feminist Standpoint Theory Nancy Hartsock coined Feminist Standpoint Theory in 1983, and since then, it evolved anddeveloped into diverse theoretical and practical directions. Standpoint does not refer to mere perspective alone, but to a deeper understanding of that perspective in its social embeddedness (Lenz 98). Sandra Harding argues in Standpoint Theory that because of marginalized social positions, the unprivileged gain the unique opportunity of having a greater understanding of social reality (Rolin 218). Their social positions enable them to be more objective and more realistic in their social analyses. Communication scholars currently use Standpoint Theory to determine and analyze different forms of knowledge, power, and structure in modern society, so that it can challenge disempowering power relations and change the status quo (Pawlowski 69). This paper reviews articles on the theory and how several scholars tested its relevance to different cultural and learning standpoints. Standpoint Theory provides epistemic advantage for different academic fields, when informants/characters are empowered to accurately discuss and analyze their social positions, so that they can change the status quo and improve their social status, although the theory must also address its conceptual and methodological weaknesses to become a dependable resource for feminist epistemology. Sandra Harding describes the political commitments of Standpoint Theory and two sources of controversial views in “Standpoint Theories: Productively Controversial.” She argues that the political commitments of Standpoint Theory are: 1) the daily lives of the oppressed provide a richer standpoint for social analysis than the experiences of the privileged; 2) standpoint theorists “study up” because they deconstruct the realities and needs of the underprivileged; 3) the theory promotes collective achievement in understanding how social relations operate; and 4) the theory seeks to obtain data that is accurate, exhaustive, objective, and intersectional (Harding 194-195). Furthermore, the two sources of controversial principles are the changing political agenda of feminists and the clash of different disciplines and their related epistemology and ontology (Harding 196-197). Harding argues that feminists must see Standpoint Theory from a contextualized multidisciplinary view and accept plurality as a legitimate source of different understandings, and not as a limitation to feminist analysis (Harding 198). She concludes that Standpoint Theory has a significant role in diverse science fields because it emphasizes attention on troubling social realities and uneven social relations. This article is important in discussing the controversies that undercut the intersectional value of Standpoint Theory. It has the weakness of poor empirical testing of its analyses through applying Harding’s propositions to women’s groups. Elizabeth Anderson criticizes Lisa Schwartzman’s Challenging Liberalism (2006) in “Toward a Non-Ideal, Relational Methodology for Political Philosophy: Comments on Schwartzman's Challenging Liberalism.” Anderson agrees with Schwartzman’s positive agenda of political philosophy, specifically the latter’s standpoint methodology and group relations methodology. She affirms that Schwartzman is right in her criticisms of individualism and abstraction too because they are incompatible with group relations methodology and standpoint methodology, respectively (Anderson 131). On the contrary, Anderson disagrees with Schwartzman’s view on liberalism. Anderson argues that liberalism is consistent with Schwartzman’s methods because liberals have used them and liberal normative commitments promote the use of these methods (Anderson 131). Anderson contends that liberalism is based on a level of timidity on the capability of the state in resolving all injustices, especially considering differences in how people see what is “good” in their operations of informal social values (131). The strengths of this article are its compelling argument for the compatibility between liberalism and Feminist Standpoint Theory and exploration of the values of liberalism to the epistemological methods of Standpoint Theory. It has the weakness of empirical testing for arguments and the need to expand the analysis to different cultures and contexts. In “Standpoint Theory as a Methodology for the Study of Power Relations,” Kristina Rolin seeks to answer the type of proof that supports epistemic advantage for the Feminist Standpoint Theory. She argues that this theory provides “epistemic advantage” (218) because of its methodological approach. She asserts that grounded examination of authentic examples provides valid substantiation for the concept of epistemic advantage. Moreover, Rolin acknowledges that power relations affect the data collection process. She stresses that “relations of power can suppress or distort evidence” in two directions: 1) stopping the flow of important evidence through intimidation of potential informants by arousing discomfort or applying “hermeneutical injustice” and 2) restraining access to significant evidence through undercutting trust between researchers and their informants (Rolin 220). Finally, Rolin compares Feminist Standpoint Theory with Ronald Giere’s perspectival realism, which states that scientific knowledge is biased. She believes that perspectival realism does not fully understand and describe the nature of scientific knowledge for feminist standpoint theorists because informants are not passive parties and power relations must not be assumed as easily expressed by informants. The strength of this article is its persuasiveness in its concept of epistemic advantage in discovering the truth about gender relations and experiences, while its weakness is that it lacks clarity in considering circumstances, wherein the researcher also exerts power over informants, which can distort information too. Dilmi Aluwihare-Samaranayake provides ethical resolutions to standpoint research’s ethical concerns in “Ethics in Qualitative Research: A View of the Participants' and Researchers' World from a Critical Standpoint.” She studies several ethical challenges that researchers and participates experience in qualitative research. She believes that these challenges involve interconnected epistemological views, where 1) the need for conscious research ethics that understands how the research affects participants and the researchers is much needed in qualitative research and 2) the importance of equal contribution of participants and research in ensuring the transparency of ethical processes and providing value to the methodological and ethical rigor of the research. Aluwihare-Samaranayake argues that participants’ experiences are socio-culturally and politically formed, and so social and political factors affect the research design and researcher behaviors too. This article is important because it emphasizes the role of critical consciousness in ensuring just and ethical research designs and processes. Its arguments, nevertheless, should be examined in actual research processes for validity and how her recommendations can be used to achieve meaningful research design changes. Eriko Maeda and Michael Hecht use the Standpoint Theory to understand the social status of single Japanese women in “Standpoint of Always-Single Japanese Women through Interpersonal Relationships.” They assert that Standpoint Theory empowers women because it concentrates on their experiences and opens discussion on overlooked issues. They show that single women in Japan occupy a marginalized status because of prevailing social preference for married life (Maeda and Hecht 4). Maeda and Hecht study the interpersonal relationships of always-single Japanese women and how these relations affect their identities throughout time. They conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with thirty single Japanese women in 2003 and 2007. The sampling was recruited through snowballing technique. Findings showed that three themes emerged for the 2003 interviews: “family dependency, social support, and relationship issues preventing marriage” (Maeda and Hecht 9). Four years after, new themes developed, specifically changes in family dynamics, position in the family and committed yet casual relationships (Maeda and Hecht 10). Maeda and Hecht conclude the importance of acceptance for women of the conflicting gender roles in their lives as single women, where interpersonal relations serve as their inspiration and source of strength for their singlehood status. This study has strengths of qualitative richness with follow-up data and provision of deeper knowledge about the standpoints of always-single Japanese women. It has weaknesses of limited sampling and external validity. Brooke Lenz applies Standpoint Theory on Jamaica Kincaid’s Lucy in “Postcolonial Fiction and the Outsider Within.” Lenz believes that Standpoint Theory can explain that Lucy is located in an outsider within status, where tensions between individual and group exist. She argues that Lucy, as an outsider within, gains epistemic advantage in understanding her social position vis-a-vis dominant individuals and groups (Lenz 101). She stresses that Lucy’s lack of stable identity enables her to develop fluid and multiple standpoints in understanding and shaping her and other characters’ identities (Lenz 102). The strength of Lenz’s article is that she avoids highly individualistic and essentialist claims about women’s social status and promotes an exhaustive and expansive view of women’s disadvantaged perspectives. The article, however, does not explore problems of power among feminist standpoints themselves, which affect the question of who decides what perspective to use and how best to analyze it. The perceptions of women on women may be filled with contesting concepts and issues, all of which are personally seen as critical to understanding these standpoints, without necessarily being forced to come up with one standpoint only. Janet A. Kourany underscores that Standpoint Theory has a significant role to play in feminist science studies in “The Place of Standpoint Theory in Feminist Science Studies” because it analyzes social relations from the viewpoint of the disadvantaged, thereby increasing the validity of social analysis. She argues that Standpoint Theory can be used as a resource for Feminist Science Studies, but it has to resolve its conceptual and justification weaknesses. Kourany compares Standpoint Theory to three main alternatives, methodological approach, the social approach, and the naturalist approach (Kourany 210). She explains that with Standpoint Theory, these approaches can improve their attainment of the primary goal of removing androcentrism and sexism in science studies (Kourany 215). However, Standpoint Theory must address its limitations, so that it can meaningfully dismantle androcentrism and sexism (Kourany 215). The strengths of this article are its valid criticisms against Standpoint Theory and expansion of discussion on its possibilities, while its weaknesses are its lack of consideration for existing gains of the theory and how it helps remove androcentrism and sexism in different contexts and sciences. Standpoint Theory is already tested as a valid epistemological resource for feminists, as can be seen in the studies of Maeda and Hecht and Harnois. Sharon Crasnow is concerned with the same question as Kourany poses in “Is Standpoint Theory a Resource for Feminist Epistemology?” As an introduction to the symposium on Standpoint Theory, it summarizes several articles on it. Crasnow argues that the contributors generally affirmed that Standpoint Theory is a useful epistemological resource and that they have valid suggestions on how to improve its validity and reliability. It is a useful resource because it values and learns about the experiences and sentiments of what used to be ignored sectors in society (Crasnow 190). She takes notes of contesting conceptions of Standpoint Theory, such as the conflict between Harding’s acceptance of plural standpoints versus Rouse’s recommendation of the practical application of Standpoint Theory within the scope and goals of science (Crasnow 190). Crasnow understands the concerns for the limitations of the theory, but believes that Standpoint Theory provides plural epistemologies that enrich it as a theory and as a methodological practice (Crasnow 190). As an introductory material, this article explores the trends and conflicts among standpoint theories. She offers a reasonable and balanced approach to these different views on what Standpoint Theory is and what it should do for society. Catherine E. Harnois demonstrates the validity of Standpoint Theory to black women in “Race, Gender, and the Black Women’s Standpoint.” She tests the relevance of Hill Collins’s (1997, 1998, 2000) argument to her sampling, where Collins asserts that black women have a “unique angle of vision” because of their social position that combines race, gender, and class hierarchies (Harnois 68). Harnois employs quantitative analyses of survey data from the National Survey of Black Americans (1992) and the National Black Feminist Study (2004–2005) to examine black women’s standpoint and to compare their propensity towards and acceptance of Hill’s black women standpoint to black men’s perspectives. Findings showed that black women as a group accept Collins’s black women standpoint analyses and that black men are as likely as black women to accept the core arguments of black women’s standpoint (Harnois 82). This article is evaluable because it empirically tests the validity of Standpoint Theory to a specific group of women and even compares its acceptance to a group of men. Nevertheless, self-reports can have biases, especially when people are prone to give socially acceptable responses. Other data collection methods can ensure that these responses are stable and valid throughout time. In “Who am I and Where Do I “Stand?” Donna R. Pawlowski believes that Standpoint Theory can help students understand their standpoints and the standpoints of others. She argues that this theory allows them to scrutinize how their standpoints influence their social privileges and limitations because it shows how social relations and experiences shape how people know what they know (epistemology) (Pawlowski 70). Furthermore, Pawlowski offers an activity that intersects individual reflection, as well as small group and class discussions. The activity involves answering questions about one’s standpoints and its causes and consequences to one’s privileged or unprivileged social status (Pawlowski 70-71). She asserts that these activities opened her students’ minds on their standpoints and the standpoints of others. Pawlowski concludes that Standpoint Theory is effective in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the theory and of each student’s standpoint. This article is relevant because it offers a class application of Standpoint Theory. It shows how Standpoint Theory enlightens students about different viewpoints and how they can correct misconceptions of other standpoints. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to empirically test how Standpoint Theory truly improves standpoint knowledge and behaviors in the long run. The criticisms of Standpoint Theory are its overgeneralization of women’s experiences to the effect that individual differences may be lost, the hardships of collecting valid data, and ambiguous interpretation of standpoint theory data. Lenz is concerned of the universalization of women’s social status. She stresses: “such a focus on difference can foster the tendency to enforce rigid categorizations rather than to interrogate the social conditions that construct group perspectives” (Lenz 99). Standpoint Theory can derail the analysis of unique personal conditions that may not always be present in women’s groups. Furthermore, Standpoint Theory suffers from epistemological weaknesses because of potential methodological constraints. Rolin understands the complicated nature of obtaining truthful information among the disadvantaged, but she offers solutions by building trust among informants and using empowering strategies. Standpoint theorists need to further improve their communication and data collection strategies to ensure the validity and reliability of their data. In addition, ambiguity is found in what explains unique women status and experiences. Kourany says that some “epistemologists and science-studies scholars have implied that it was the empirical efficacy of their feminist values rather than their special standpoints that explain women scientists’ sometimes unique, gender-related contributions to their fields” (210). Kourany points out the possibility that feminist values, not their standpoints, account for unique findings about women’s situations. Standpoint Theory offers a useful lens in describing and uncovering women’s experiences and relations, but it needs to improve the rigor of its methodologies and the plurality of its analyses to become a lasting valid resource for feminist epistemology. Works Cited Aluwihare-Samaranayake, Dilmi. “Ethics in Qualitative Research: A View of the Participants' and Researchers' World from a Critical Standpoint.” International Journal of Qualitative Methods 11.2(2012): 64-81. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Anderson, Elizabeth. “Toward a Non-Ideal, Relational Methodology for Political Philosophy: Comments on Schwartzman's Challenging Liberalism.” Hypatia 24.4 (2009): 130-145. doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01062.x. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Crasnow, Sharon. “Is Standpoint Theory a Resource for Feminist Epistemology? An Introduction.” Hypatia 24.4 (2009): 189-192. doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01066.x. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Harding, Sandra. “Standpoint Theories: Productively Controversial.” Hypatia 24.4 (2009): 192-200. doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01067.x. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Harnois, Catherine E. “Race, Gender, and the Black Women’s Standpoint.” Sociological Forum 25.1 (2010): 68-85. doi:10.1111/j.1573-7861.2009.01157.x. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Kourany, Janet A. “The Place of Standpoint Theory in Feminist Science Studies.” Hypatia 24.4(2009): 209-218. doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01069.x. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Lenz, Brooke. “Postcolonial Fiction and the Outsider Within: Toward a Literary Practice of Feminist Standpoint Theory.” NWSA Journal 16.2 (2004): 98-120. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Maeda, Eriko, and Hecht, Michael. “Standpoint of Always-Single Japanese Women through Interpersonal Relationships.” International Communication Association Conference (2009): 1-28. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Pawlowski, Donna R. “Who am I and Where Do I “Stand?” Communication Teacher 20.3 (2006): 69-73. Communication & Mass Media Complete. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Rolin, Kristina. “Standpoint Theory as a Methodology for the Study of Power Relations.” Hypatia 24.4 (2009): 218-226. doi:10.1111/j.1527-2001.2009.01070.x. Web. 17 Apr. 2012. . Read More