The Contribution of Different Feminist Approaches to the Discipline of Sociology - Assignment Example

Critically evaluate the contribution of different feminist approaches to the discipline of Sociology Introduction The appearance of various theoretical approaches in the context of sociology has been considered as an expected fact taking into consideration the rapid development of the specific science but also the continuous changes in social and political ethics worldwide. Feminist approaches have been an indicative example of this activity; the specific approaches have been extensively used in the explanation of social theories; however, limits seem to exist in regard to the use of these approaches in sociology. In accordance with Kirby (2000) feminist approaches usually emphasize on the ‘male domination of society’ (Kirby, 2000, p.90) trying to explain the causes for various social phenomena; the above method of explaining the development of social facts leads to the justification of certain social facts and the ignorance of others; it is mentioned, for instance, by Kirby (2000) that feminist approaches are used in order to explain the abuse of women by men but there is no reference to the opposite phenomenon. Despite their weaknesses, the feminist approaches have contributed to the development of sociology but this contribution has different aspects and consequences in the context explained below. 2. Feminist approaches in Sociology Feminist perspectives in sociology are likely to have a specific theoretical form; this form is usually depended on the social theory on which these perspectives are based; the above fact is made clear in the study of Rege (2003) where it is noted that ‘a popular method of categorizing feminist theory has been the hyphenated approach: liberal, radical, Marxist, socialist, postmodern and black feminisms’ (Rege, 2003, p.51The development of feminist approaches in sociology has led to severe conflicts among researchers that study the specific field; more specifically, it has been supported that the existence of feminist approaches implies that in sociology there are also ‘masculine’ approaches (Hage, 1994, p.140); this fact leads to the assumption that social theories are not based on the observation and objective interpretation of social phenomena but they are likely to be influenced by the gender of the sociologist involved. This assumption could lead to the decrease of quality and validity of social theories. The above view would also imply that theories that are quite known and which are not characterized as based on a feminist approach of social phenomena, for instance the positivism, cannot be used in order to explain social conditions or actions that are related to women – for example the role of the women in the society or their response to specific events or initiatives. Under these terms, social theories could be divided into two categories: those appropriate for men and those appropriate for women – referring to the explanation of social events or theories that refer to men or women accordingly. The above view would be criticized as of its potential negative effects on the understanding and the explanation of social theories; sociology cannot be characterized as ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’; however, views of men and women in the analysis of social phenomena would be equally valuable in the context that they can highlight different aspects of these phenomena; it is in this way that the role of feminist approaches in the sociology should be explained. On the other hand, Littig (2001, p.2) noted that feminist approaches cannot be used in all areas of sociology; the case of environmental sociology is used as an indicative example of the above view; however, it is not adequately explained why feminist approaches are considered as not related with the specific part of sociology; by characterizing the feminist approaches as not appropriate for use in the explanation of environmental social theories a specific assumption is produced: feminist approaches cannot respond to the demands of environmental social theories; in the same context, it could be supported that the feminist sociological approaches are irrelevant with other parts of sociology; but which criterion would be set for developing such conclusion? The above view, could set a risk for the sociology – in a similar context as explained previously; it could be implied that women are not able to understand and explain the environmental issues; but such a view would be absolutely rejected in the context of sociology where equality and objectivity is promoted. In accordance with the issues explained above it can be noted that feminist approaches can be developed in all sectors of sociology but the terms under which their explanations would be valuable for the interpretation of specific social phenomena would be set by the sociologists rather than those who periodically deal with the sociology. In other words, the feminist approaches in sociology would have the same role as all theoretical approaches in the context of the specific science; it is only through this view that the integration of sociology is effectively protected. 2.1 Contributions of the feminist approaches to Sociology In order to identify and understand the role of feminist approaches to the development of sociology it is necessary to explore the nature of interaction between the feminist sociological approaches and the (classic) sociology. It seems that the above relationship presents different aspects – or at least it has been understood as having different dimensions by the researchers that have studied the particular subject. The development of feminist approaches in sociology has often the form of the critical analysis of the work of known sociologists – especially Marx and Weber; the specific issue is highlighted in the study of Delamont (2003, p.101); in the above study it is noted that not all social theories have been used as a reference for feminist sociologists; it is made clear that the work of Marx and Weber has been proved particularly valuable for feminist sociologists while the work of others, like Durheim and Freud is not offered for interpretation using the feminist approach; in accordance with Delamont (2003, p.101) the above phenomenon can be explained by the fact that the feminist sociologists have not been able to identify the appropriate context of certain social theories – including those of Durkheim and Freud. In accordance with the above view, the feminist sociological approaches have affected the development of the specific science but their contribution has been different in regard to each particular social theory – as indicatively explained above. From another point of view, feminist approaches in the field of sociology have been depended on the ability of women to enter the academia; the specific issue is noted by Laslett et al. (1997); in accordance with the above study ‘women’s capacities for self-organization in higher education go a considerable way toward explaining how and when feminist sociology emerged in the United States’ (Laslett et al., 1997, p.20). The above explanation can be characterized as partially right; without having the ability to enter the academic environment women could not support their views on the explanation of social theories; even if the feminist approaches have been promoted by men – who would recognize the relevance of these approaches to the explanation of social theories – the enhancement of those approaches would be quite limited – referring to the absence of women in the academia. The development of views that could be used as the basis for social theories is necessary in order for these theories (or theoretical approaches) to be formulated; if such views do not exist – and the existence is in most cases refer to the written form of a view – then it would be impossible for these views to lead to specific theoretical approaches. However, the potential development of feminist approaches by women that have not entered the academia cannot be rejected; those views would be equally valuable for the explanation of social phenomena as the views developed by women working in the academic environment. In accordance with Abbott et al. (2005, p.27) ‘feminism is a theory; but not a unified one’; in this context, trying to identify the exact contribution of feminism in sociology would be a challenging task; moreover, it is noted that feminist sociology cannot be ignored as it already refers to many different disciplines (Abbott et al., 2005, p.27); this view leads to similar assumptions as the previous ones; again, it is made clear that feminist theories need to be taken into consideration when having to explain social phenomena; however, it is necessary that the nature and the scope of these phenomena are carefully examined in advance – making sure that feminist approaches would be appropriate for their explanation; an issue noted above needs to be highlighted here: the use or not of feminist approaches in the explanation of certain social phenomena cannot lead to the assumption that men or women are incapable of understanding these phenomena; it is just the fact that men and women tend to identify different points of interest in each social fact; the approach used for the explanation of a specific social fact needs to be critically evaluated as of its relevance using as a criterion the targets set. Moreover, the exact explanation of male and feminine perspectives in sociology would refer to perspectives that reflect the male and the feminine way of thinking as these ways of thinking can be understood in the every day life. The fact that the differentiations among the ‘male’ sociological approaches and the feminist sociological approaches are limited is noted by Kendall (2008, p.185); the above researcher notes that there are male sociological perspectives that can be used for the explanation of the behaviour of women – it is noted that ‘theories developed to explain male behaviour can be used to understand female deviance and crime’ (Kendall, 2008, p.185); the above example shows that both male and feminist sociological approaches can be used for the explanation of social phenomena no matter if these phenomena are related to men or women. The contribution of feminist approaches to sociology seems to be continuous; indeed, in the study of Littlewood (2004, p.42) it is noted that feminist sociology has been changed through the decades in order to respond to the different social needs; these needs have been changed compared to the past as the conditions as all aspects of life have been differentiated – mostly under the influence of technology. In accordance with the above view, the value of feminist approaches to the explanation of social phenomena – and the following development of sociology – has not been decreased – compared to the past; on the contrary, the feminist sociological approaches have been adapted to current social needs and social thinking and they have kept their role as a major contributor to the development of sociology. 3. Conclusion The increase of human needs in terms of social theories can be explained by referring to the complexity of human relationships but also to the increase of inequality in many aspects of social life. Traditionally, sociology has been asked to interpret the behaviour of people and to contribute to the identification of the appropriate explanation. Today, sociology has another role; it is used for the identification of the needs of people in the context of the strong dependency of daily life on money; It could be supported that economy had always a crucial role in the development of human activities and in this way it is closely related with the quality of life; under these terms, sociology could be used in order to emphasize on the importance of social relationships as a way to enhance the independency of human activities from economic variables and conditions. The above challenge involves equally in men and women. Feminist approaches have been traditionally used in order to emphasize on the potential alternatives to common views and practices; today, these approaches would be used in the support of the above effort; in this way, their contribution to sociology would be continued; different methods for the development of the relationship between the feminist approaches and the sociology might be adopted – in accordance with the needs addressed each time and the conditions of the social environment. References Abbott, P., Wallace, C., Tyler, M., 2005. An introduction to sociology: feminist perspectives. Routledge Delamont, S., 2003. Feminist sociology. SAGE Hage, J., 1994. Formal theory in sociology: opportunity or pitfall? SUNY Press Kendall, D., 2008. Sociology in Our Times: The Essentials. Cengage Learning Kirby, M., 2000. Sociology in perspective. Heinemann Laslett, B., Thorne, B., 1997. Feminist sociology: life histories of a movement. Rutgers University Press Littig, B., 2001. Feminist perspectives on environment and society. Pearson Education Littlewood, B., 2004. Feminist perspectives on sociology. Pearson Education Rege, S., 2003. Sociology of gender: the challenge of feminist sociological knowledge. SAGE Read More