Despite one’s best efforts at objectivity, there can be no firm “separation of knower and known” and a researcher’s own experience necessarily influences the project. While a researcher’s individual experience can introduce bias, it can also prove a great asset.
Researchers operating in different frames tend to “ask very different questions… and consider very different interventions” (Kiguwa, 2019). Recognizing this fact is crucial to understanding the power dynamics that shape our relationships with participants, as well as the potential effects and unintended consequences of our research findings (DeVault, 1996; Kiguwa, 2019).
What is Feminist Methodology?
Despite the title of this piece, there is no singular unified “Feminist Methodology”. Instead, feminist methodology can be thought of as a cluster of different methodologies “rooted in feminist activism and in feminists’ critiques of the standard procedures of social science” that share a commitment “to include women’s lives and concerns in accounts of society, to minimize the harms of research, and to support changes that will improve women’s status” (DeVault, 1996). Feminist methodology should be imagined as a framework one can adopt to conduct research that encompasses many diverse individual approaches unified by an emphasis on positionality and intentionality.
Feminist approaches to research consider both the subject’s and researcher’s positionality within structural power hierarchies. While at first glance these theoretical claims may seem overly abstracted and conceptual, they are not. It is important to remember that research happens in the real world. Despite our best attempts to reach objectivity, researchers will always be enmeshed within local social contexts and subject to the same organizing principles of power hierarchies. On this same note, another key component of feminist approaches is intentional grounding of research in the real-world (Kiguwa, 2019).
Benefits of Feminist Methodology
Beyond an emphasis on practical application, the key benefit of feminist research is its ability to create space for subjectivity as a valuable source of knowledge. Traditional approaches which exclude marginalized voices and forms of knowledge from mainstream research are not only ethically problematic but also lead to incomplete research and blind spots which limit the utility of any findings (Beetham & Demetriades, 2007). These blind spots extend beyond gender analysis to also include any groups made invisible by racial, class, national or colonial power-dynamics. Neither positionality nor intentionality as methodological approaches are limited to gender.
Applications Beyond Gender
At its core, feminist methodology is about conducting research with a full view of the social context within which that research occurs. This is a valuable lens which can be meaningfully applied to enhance all kinds of research, particularly any that involves marginalized groups. For instance, in donor-sponsored research practice the dynamic between the researcher, subjects and donors is a particularly poignant nexus for structural power to come to bear. Donors wield significant monetary power, which often comes from broader social and economic inequalities. This frequantly leads to earmarked funding that limits the independence and subjectivity of the research. Once monetary considerations are introduced, the aims of a project shift from seeking to deliver the highest impact or greatest insight to aiming for the highest value (Lokot, 2019). This shift creates several adverse effects on the research process:
Firstly, the pressure to create deliverables transforms research to become increasingly extractive as the project begins to require “the right kinds” of data to supply donors (Lokot, 2019). Secondly, the same pressure to generate results often leads to focusing too much on simple, easy-to-measure indicators, perpetuating the invisibilization of marginalized forms of knowledge (Lokot, 2019). Thirdly, in pursuit of greatest efficiency, project designs are at risk of becoming overly standardized and prescriptive as they seek to reuse as many resources as possible to (Lokot, 2019). Finally, monetary concerns often exacerbate both physical and figurative distance between researcher and subjects. Due to logistical and cost concerns, oftentimes even when researchers are “in-the-field” they do not actually have direct contact with affected groups, reinforcing extractive power structures (Lokot, 2019).
While feminist methodologies cannot solely resolve any of these issues, emphasis of positionality and intentionality can provide a framework for addressing concerns. Feminist emphasis on positionality of researchers’ own incentive structures and power within research relationships invites increased openness within the project. This can manifest as allowing space for the actual concerns of the interest group to emerge, for example by actively bringing research subjects into the knowledge generation process. Increased proximity with participants through active engagement can also serve to minimize the extractive nature of research relations by shifting to a partnership and relationship building model which provides agency and skill acquisition for research participants (particularly when compelled with more common forms of material compensation).
2030 Pledge for Change
Ultimately, feminist methodology offers a guiding ethos focused on centering marginalized voices, interrogating power dynamics, and addressing inequity. Through its focus on positionality and intentionality, feminist methodology challenges extractive practices and creates opportunities for more inclusive, nuanced, and impactful research. Particularly in donor-funded fields like humanitarian and development work, it offers a vital corrective to dominant approaches, opening space for more equitable and locally grounded methods of knowledge generation.
At INTEGRATED, we are strongly committed to the values of feminist research and to addressing the unequal power dynamics in the development and aid sectors. As evidence of our dedication, we are proud to announce our recently formalized support for the 2030 Pledge for Change, reinforcing our commitment to more equitable, locally led, and feminist humanitarian and development practices.
References:
- Beetham, G. and Demetriades, J., 2007. Feminist research methodologies and development: Overview and practical application. Gender and Development, 15(2), pp.199–216. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20461201.
- DeVault, M.L., 1996. Talking back to sociology: Distinctive contributions of feminist methodology. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, pp.29–50. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2083423.
- Kiguwa, P., 2019. Feminist approaches: An exploration of women’s gendered experiences. In: S. Laher et al., eds. Transforming research methods in the social sciences: Case studies from South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, pp.220–235. Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.18772/22019032750.19.
- Lokot, M., 2019. The space between us: Feminist values and humanitarian power dynamics in research with refugees. Gender & Development, 27(3), pp.467–484. doi:10.1080/13552074.2019.1664046.