Description: Knowing Feminisms looks at feminism as a vital source of new knowledge and new ways of working throughout a range of disciplines. It also scrutinizes the sometimes highly problematic forms its presence within academia can take. The contributors, all well-known feminist academics, discuss the epistemological and ontological `borderlands′ that feminisms inhabit, which although within, still remain `other′ to, the academy.
The book addresses fundamentally important questions such as: Should feminists work within traditional disciplines or abandon them in favour of Women′s Studies? Is the idea of feminist pedagogy as `empowerment′ actually one which de-skills? Does the feminist transformation of some academic disciplines
Brief description: Liz Stanley is Director of Women′s Studies and Reader in Sociology at the University of Manchester. Her recent books include: The Auto/Biographical I: The Theory and Practice of Feminist Auto/Biography (Manchester University Press, 1992); Debates in Sociology (with David Morgan, Manchester University Press, 1992); Breaking Out Again: Feminist Ontology and Epistemology (with Sue Wise, Routledge, 1993) and Sex Surveyed 1949-1994 (Taylor and Francis, 1995). An edited collection, Borderlands: Feminisms in the Academy will be published by SAGE during 1996. Liz Stanley is also the editor of the journal Auto/Biography and co-editor of the new online web journal Sociological Research Online.
CONTRIBUTORS
Johanna Alberti Open University Northern Region Newcastle upon Tyne
Carol Brown University of Surrey
Chris Corrin University of Glasgow
Kathy Davis University of Utrecht
Mary Evans University of Kent
Elaine Graham University of Manchester
Uma Kothari University of Manchester
Gina Mercer James Cook University Townsville Australia
Angela Montgomery Northumbria Probational Service
Jean Orr Queens University Belfast
Anne Seller University of Kent
Ailbhe Smyth University College Dublin
Sue Wilkinson University of Loughborough
Sue Wise University of Lancaster
Review Quotes: `Knowing Feminisms is an analysis of the complex relationship of the feminist academic with her profession... This book is an excellent compilation of feminist critiques from the standpoint of women in seven academic disciplines′ - NWSA Journal
`Stanley′s collection aims to avert the feminist gaze away from those "others" who are its subject matter, "and a little towards this `gaze′ itself, to the process of knowledge production"... a necessary read′ - Feminist Magazine