Doing advocacy from a feminist standpoint

Abstract

Feminist Standpoint theory contends that all research is partial, located, and interested. It argues that research should start from the standpoint of the disadvantaged and work toward social change. Following a brief exploration of the perspective, this article explores some of the ways that feminists pursue advocacy. The article reviews two methodological approaches employed by Feminist Standpoint researchers: Community Action Research and Institutional Ethnography. Turning to examine the work of several feminist scholars who study religion, we see that there is no one way that they do advocacy. There is considerable variation in choice of subject (who feminists advocate for) and audience (who feminists advocate to), as well as in the forms that advocacy takes. Finally, the article suggests that for these scholars of religion, being an advocate is an important identity that they bring to their work.