Page 141 - Šolsko polje, XXXI, 2020, 5-6: Teaching Feminism, ed. Valerija Vendramin
P. 141
The Grammar of Knowledge:
A Look at Feminism and Feminist Epistemologies
Valerija Vendramin, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
As a postscript and by way of a response to all the contributors in
this issue of The School Field, I would like to “wrap up” all of the
subjects presented into a single general theme: feminist epistemol-
ogies. Better still: this may be seen as some sort of conversation I wish I
once had, but have not (perhaps an opportunity for a roundtable on this
topic will arise some day). At the same time, I wish to thank the authors all
for their cooperation and, after all, for opening up new intellectual spaces
and reflecting on those already in place. The theme of teaching feminism
is important, even more so in the present times, as is obvious from all of
the issues raised and dealt with by the authors in this issue. But let me first
start with feminism. Feminism is many things to many people, says Helen
Longino, “but it is at its core in part about the expansion of human poten-
tiality” (Longino, 1987, p. 60; see also Vendramin, 2018, p. 75).
At this point, let me briefly deal with the singular/plural issue raised
by the title of this text, i.e.: feminist epistemology vs. epistemologies (FE).
FE is an approach to epistemology (rather than a single school or theory)
that uses gender as a central category. Gender is indeed a central catego-
ry, but – as a sort of contribution to more precise thinking – other axes of
discrimination and marginalisation are included. According to Marianne
Janack (n.d.): feminist epistemology “identifies how dominant concep-
tions and practices of knowledge attribution, acquisition, and justifica-
tion disadvantage women and other subordinated groups, and strives to
reform them to serve the interests of these groups”. Phyllis Rooney says
that “feminist epistemology (as encompassing a range of epistemologi-
cal projects informed and linked by efforts to uncover the political and
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(5-6)139-146 139
Original scientific article
A Look at Feminism and Feminist Epistemologies
Valerija Vendramin, Educational Research Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
As a postscript and by way of a response to all the contributors in
this issue of The School Field, I would like to “wrap up” all of the
subjects presented into a single general theme: feminist epistemol-
ogies. Better still: this may be seen as some sort of conversation I wish I
once had, but have not (perhaps an opportunity for a roundtable on this
topic will arise some day). At the same time, I wish to thank the authors all
for their cooperation and, after all, for opening up new intellectual spaces
and reflecting on those already in place. The theme of teaching feminism
is important, even more so in the present times, as is obvious from all of
the issues raised and dealt with by the authors in this issue. But let me first
start with feminism. Feminism is many things to many people, says Helen
Longino, “but it is at its core in part about the expansion of human poten-
tiality” (Longino, 1987, p. 60; see also Vendramin, 2018, p. 75).
At this point, let me briefly deal with the singular/plural issue raised
by the title of this text, i.e.: feminist epistemology vs. epistemologies (FE).
FE is an approach to epistemology (rather than a single school or theory)
that uses gender as a central category. Gender is indeed a central catego-
ry, but – as a sort of contribution to more precise thinking – other axes of
discrimination and marginalisation are included. According to Marianne
Janack (n.d.): feminist epistemology “identifies how dominant concep-
tions and practices of knowledge attribution, acquisition, and justifica-
tion disadvantage women and other subordinated groups, and strives to
reform them to serve the interests of these groups”. Phyllis Rooney says
that “feminist epistemology (as encompassing a range of epistemologi-
cal projects informed and linked by efforts to uncover the political and
https://doi.org/10.32320/1581-6044.31(5-6)139-146 139
Original scientific article
