Feminist Poststructuralism and Discourse Analysis: Contributions to Feminist Psychology
- 1 December 1989
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Psychology of Women Quarterly
- Vol. 13 (4) , 459-475
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1989.tb01014.x
Abstract
In this article I suggest that feminist poststructuralism (Weedon, 1987) is of great potential value to feminist psychologists seeking more satisfactory ways of theorizing gender and subjectivity. Some key elements of this theoretical perspective are discussed, including an understanding of knowledge as socially produced and inherently unstable, an emphasis on the importance of language and discourse, and a decentering of the subject. Discourse analysis is discussed as one way of working that is consistent with feminist poststructuralist theory. To illustrate this approach, an example is presented from my work on the sexual coercion of women within heterosexual relationships.Keywords
This publication has 12 references indexed in Scilit:
- The meaning of difference: Gender theory, postmodernism, and psychology.American Psychologist, 1988
- Feminist perspectives on empowering research methodologiesWomen's Studies International Forum, 1988
- Postmodernism and Gender Relations in Feminist TheorySigns: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 1987
- Evaluating the Feminist Challenge to Research in Personality and Social Psychology: 1963–1983Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1986
- The decentralization of identity: Toward a revised concept of personal and social order.American Psychologist, 1985
- The social constructionist movement in modern psychology.American Psychologist, 1985
- The uses of hermeneutics for feminist scholarshipWomen's Studies International Forum, 1984
- Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: Toward Feminist JurisprudenceSigns: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 1983
- Objectivity and truth: Problems in doing feminist researchWomen's Studies International Forum, 1983
- Authorship: What is an Author?Screen, 1979