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Feminist Standpoint Epistemologies With/In the Natural Sciences FEMINIST STANDPOINT EPISTEMOLOGIES WITHlfN THE NATURAL SCIENCES Jodi C. Jensen BSc., University of Victoria, 1991 THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Women's Studies O Jodi C. Jensen 1996 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August 1996 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whoie or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. National Library Bibliothque nationale I*l.Canada du Canada Acrji.- rbns and Direction des acquisitions et Bibliographic Services Branch des services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, ride Wellington Cmawa, Ontario Ottawa (Ontario) KIA ON4 KiAON4 Your hie Votre r6Urenca Our lde Nofre rt5ft5rence The author has granted an L'auteur a accsrde une licence irrevocable non-exclusive licence irrevocable et non exclusive allowing the National Library of perrnettant B la Bibliotheque Canada to reproduce, loan, nationale du Canada de distribute or sell copies of reproduire, prgter, distribuer ou his/her thesis by any means and vendre des copies de sa these in any form or format, making de quelque rnaniere et sous this thesis available to interested quelque forme que ce soit pour persons. mettre des exernplaires de cette these a la disposition des personnes interessees. The author retains ownership of L'auteur conserve la propriete du the copyright in his/her thesis. droit d'auteur qui prc?&ge sa Neither the thesis nor substantial these. Ni la these ni des extraits extracts from it may be printed or substantiels de celle-ci ne otherwise reproduced without doivent 6tre imprimes ou his/her permission. autrement reproduits sans son autorisation. ISBN 0-612-16931-6 PARTIAL COPYRIGHT LICENSE I hereby grant to Simon Fraser Universi the right to lend my thesis, pro-ect or extended essay (the title o7 which is shown below) to users oi the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. I further agree that permission for multiple copying of this work for scholarly purposes may be granted by me or the Dean of Graduate Studies. It is understood that copying or publication of this work for financial gain shall not 13e allowed without my written permission. Title of Thesis/Project/Extended Essay Feminist Stand~olntEpistemolosies With/ln the Natural Sciences Name: Jodi C. Jensen Degree: Master of Arts Title of Thesis: Feminist Standpoint Epistemologies with/ in the Natural Sciences Examining Committen: Chair: Dr. Jacqueline Levitin Associate Professor: Contemporary Arts and Women's Studies Dr. Meredith Kimball Senior Supervisor Associate Professor: Psychology and Women's Studies Dr. Marilyn MacDonald Second Supervisor Assistant Professor: Women's Studies Dr. ~iche\eaPujk External Ex mi r Associate Professor: Women's Studies University of Victoria ABSTRACT In this thesis, I consider the strategic uses of feminist standpoint epistemologies to feminist struggles over authority, meaning and knowledge in the context of the natural sciences. While feminist goals with respect to the natural sciences are diverse, filled with contradictions, tensions, and moments of shared resonance, competing interests are most sharply articulated between efforts to increase women's participation in science and efforts to transform how concepts of science determine what and how we know. Feminist standpoint epistemologies posit women's difference as a resource for producing more objective/less partial knowledge. I explore feminist standpoint theories through the work of Dorothy Smith, Evelyn Fox Keller and Patricia Hill Collins. Although these theories are potentially deeply conservative, in this thesis I evaluate standpoint epistemologies according to the uses, costs and benefits of the strategies they provide for justiiying feminist claims in the context of debates over equality and difference. Evaluating standpoint epistemologies involves considering how essentialisms function; the value of such strategies is determined by who uses them and in what contexts. I consider whether geneticist Barbara McClintock's practices provide a model for feminist science based on a standpoint approach and whether feminist standpoint theories are able to explain her alternative practices. In addition, I examine the public messages of feminist science critics and of women scientists to determine whether strategies arising from feminist standpoint epistemologies are useful to women struggling to achieve equity and to transform science. i v I conclude that while there are currently many barriers to using standpoint strategies effectively with/in the natural sciences, multiple strategies are necessary because both ferninisms and science are constructed through ongoing struggles for political resources. Feminist politics must serve competing interests and address not only who uses a strategy in a particular context, but how such decisions are made. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the contributions of countless women to feminist political struggles, both within and beyond the bounds of academic institutions, which have made it possible for me to do this work. I extend thanks to the many individuals whose fleeting, sporadic and ongoing encouragement, inspiration and chit-chat have challenged me to look in new directions. In particular, I thank the members of my examining committee for their ongoing patience and support. TABLE OF CONTENTS .. APPROVAL.. .............................. .. .......~.~..~..~~.................................................................ii ... ABSTRACT.. .......................................................................................................... ..ill ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.. .......................................................................................... .v CHAPTER ONE: Women, Feminism and Science: An htroduction.............. 1 CHAmR TWO: Feminist Epistemologies........................................................ .13 CHAPTER THREE: Barbara McClintock: Model Methodologies? ................... 42 CHAPTER FOUR: The Strategic Uses of Feminist Standpoint Epistemologies................................................................................................ .61 CHAPTER FM3: Conclusion.. ..................................................................................89 BIBLIOGRAPHY.. ....................................................................................................... .96 CHAPTER ONE: Women, feminism and science: An Introduction For feminists, the ultimate test of knowledge is not whether it is 'true' according tc an abstract criterion, but whether or not it leads to progressive change. (Weiler, 1988, p. 63) Science and technology initially resided at the periphery of the concerns identified by second wave feminist movements. Not until the late 1970s did disputes over technology and nature within reproductive politics cause feminists to acknowledge the central role science plays in western systems of domination. The feminist literature on gender, science and technology has since exploded into a major field of study with increasingly diverse research interests and goals.' This field encompasses equity projects for women scientists, textual interpretations of science writing, and critiques revealing androcentric and other biases within scientific epistemological assumptions, methodologies, theories, facts and interpretations. Some feminists call for alternatives, for efforts to transform masculine science and/or to create a feminist science (Benston, 1982; Bleier, 1986). The notion that women have privileged access to a new epistemology is intrinsic to most feminist successor science projects (Fee, 1986; Harding, 1986). In part, this thesis is my attempt to bridge the gaps between feminist science projects and between the communities of women committed to them. It is a desire which springs from my identities as feminist and scientist, which place me on the margins of both. communities. While feminist science projects are diverse, filled with contradictions, tensions and moments of 1,41though science and technology are not distinct, I use the term science throughout the thesis rather than 'science and technology' because I am primarily concerned with processes of knowledge-making. However, I do so with the understanding that science is increasingly technology-driven (Harding, 1986, 1991) and that it is difficult to distinguish between the production of scientific knowledge and its technological applications. 2 shared resonance, competing interests are most sharply articulated between efforts to lncrease women's participation in science and efforts to transform how our concepts of science determine what we know and how we know. These conflicts are mapped onto the relationships between women scientists working to achieve equity and feminist science critics working to transform science. The boundaries between these communities and projects are blurred by those women scientists who are feminists and/or are interested in feminist critiques of science. While the dichotomies I present are neither stable nor absolute, they provide a useful framework for understanding the tensions surrounding feminist science projects. Throughout this thesis, I use the following terminology to identify and distinguish the communities of women involved in these projects. I use 'women scientists' to refer to women
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