Companion to Feminist Studies

A comprehensive overview of feminist scholarship edited by an internationally recognized and leading figure in the field

Companion to Feminist Studies provides a broad overview of the rich history and the multitude of approaches, theories, concepts, and debates central to this dynamic interdisciplinary field. Comprehensive yet accessible, this edited volume offers expert insights from contributors of diverse academic, national, and activist backgrounds?discussing contemporary research and themes while offering international, postcolonial, and intersectional perspectives on social, political, cultural, and economic institutions, social media, social justice movements, everyday discourse, and more.

Organized around three different dimensions of Feminist Studies, the Companion begins by exploring ten theoretical frameworks, including feminist epistemologies examining Marxist and Socialist Feminism, the activism of radical feminists, the contributions of Black feminist thought, and interrelated approaches to the fluidity of gender and sexuality. The second section focuses on methodologies and analytical frameworks developed by feminist scholars, including empiricists, economists, ethnographers, cultural analysts, and historiographers. The volume concludes with detailed discussion of the many ways in which pedagogy, political ecology, social justice, globalization, and other areas within Feminist Studies are shaped by feminism in practice. A major contribution to scholarship on both the theoretical foundations and contemporary debates in the field, this volume:

• Provides an international and interdisciplinary range of the essays of high relevance to scholars, students, and practitioners alike
• Examines various historical and modern approaches to the analysis of gender and sexual differences
• Addresses timely issues such as the difference between radical and cultural feminism, the lack of women working as scientists in academia and other research positions, and how activism continues to reformulate feminist approaches
• Draws insight from the positionality of postcolonial, comparative and transnational feminists
• Explores how gender, class, and race intersect to shape women?s experiences and inform their perspectives

Companion to Feminist Studies is an essential resource for students and faculty in Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Feminist Studies programs, and related disciplines including anthropology, psychology, history, political science, and sociology, and for researchers, scholars, practitioners, policymakers, activists, and advocates working on issues related to gender, sexuality, and social justice.

About the Editors vii

Notes on Contributors ix

Acknowledgments xvii

Part I Introduction 1

1 Feminist Studies as a Site of Critical Knowledge Production and Praxis 3
Nancy A. Naples

Part II Feminist Epistemology and Its Discontents 13

2 Biological Determinism and Essentialism 15
Sheila Greene

3 Marxist and Socialist Feminisms 35
Elisabeth Armstrong

4 Radical and Cultural Feminisms 53
Lauren Rosewarne

5 Materialist Feminisms 73
Bronwyn Winter

6 Black Feminism and Womanism 91
Rose M. Brewer

7 Intersectionality as Critical Inquiry 105
Patricia Hill Collins

8 Queer, Trans, and Transfeminist Theories 129
Ute Bettray

9 Postcolonial Feminism 155
Umme Al‐wazedi

10 Feminisms in Comparative Perspective 175
Anne Sisson Runyan, Rina Verma Williams, Anwar Mhajne and Crystal Whetstone

11 Transnational Feminisms 193
Gul Aldikacti Marshall

Part III Methodological Diversity 211

12 Feminist Methodologies 213
Cynthia Deitch

13 Feminist Empiricism 231
Gina Marie Longo

14 Feminist Science Studies 247
Samantha M. Archer and A.E. Kohler

15 Feminist Economics 265
Valeria Esquivel

16 Feminist Ethnography 281
Dana‐Ain Davis and Christa Craven

17 Feminist Historiography 301
Ariella Rotramel

18 Feminism, Gender, and, Popular Culture 321
Diane Grossman

Part IV Feminist Praxis 339

19 Feminist Pedagogy 341
Danielle M. Currier

20 Feminist Praxis and Globalization 357
Manisha Desai and Koyel Khan

21 Feminism and Somatic Praxis 373
Gill Wright Miller

22 Feminist Health Movements 393
Meredeth Turshen and Marci Berger

23 Feminist Praxis and Gender Violence 411
Claire M. Renzetti and Margaret Campe

24 Feminist Political Ecologies in Latin American Context 427
Astrid Ulloa

25 Feminism and Social Justice Movements 447
Molli Spalter

Index 469

Nancy A. Naples is Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Connecticut, USA. Her publications include over fifty books chapter and journal articles in numerous interdisciplinary and sociological journals. To highlight a few of her works, Nancy Naples is Editor-in-Chief of the five-volume Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender and Sexuality Studies (2016) and she is author of Feminism and Method: Ethnography, Discourse Analysis, and Activist Research (2003), Grassroots Warriors: Community Work, Activist Mothering and the War on Poverty (1998) and co-editor of Border Politics: Social Movements, Collective Identities, and Globalization (with Jennifer Bickham Mendez) and The Sexuality of Migration: Border Crossings and Mexican Immigrant Men, by Lionel Cantú (with Salvador Vidal-Ortiz).