Strong objectivity

Strong objectivity, otherwise known as Feminist Objectivity is a term first used by standpoint feminist Sandra Harding to describe research orientated towards a feminist point of view. Harding suggests that starting research from the lives of women "actually strengthens standards of objectivity".[1] Strong objectivity can be contrasted with the 'weak objectivity' of supposed value-neutral research[2]

From a feminist standpoint, the question of objectivity stems from what kinds of knowledge projects are objective and which aren't, and why; whether or not objectivity is necessary; and how, or if, it is possible to achieve objectivity. These considerations arise at least in part from concerns about sexism and androcentric bias in dominant scientific life and studies.

Standpoint epistemologies require stronger standards for objectivity in the analysis of knowledge. Feminism considers conventional standards of objectivity to be influenced by a male point of view, which they seek to remove by replacing it with a feminist or female point of view in order to bring it in line with feminist ideology. The subject of knowledge must therefore be considered an object of knowledge from the perspective of scientific method. Knowledge and the biases affecting it must be equally judged by the scientific community and located in social history. [3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tickner, J Ann (1997) You Just Don't Understand: Troubled: Engagements between Feminists and IR Theorists, International Studies Quartlery, 41/4: 622
  2. ↑ Ritzer, George (ed). Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology. Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Blackwell Reference Online. 8 January 2011 <http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/book?id=g9781405124331_yr2010_9781405124331
  3. ↑ Harding, Sandra. "Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What is "Strong Objectivity?" Feminist Theory: A Philosophical Anthology. Ed. Cudd, Ann E. and Robin O. Andreasen, 2005. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

Further reading


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