Standpoint Theory

Patricia Hill Collins: African-American sociologist at Brandeis University Claims: patterns of intersecting oppressions African American women face in the United States have placed them in a different marginalized position in society compared to white women or black men. Book: Black Feminist Thought o The heavy concentration of the U.S. black women in domestic work coupled with racial segregation in housing and schools Meaning it helped these women construct knowledge of how to survive in the world. Along with other African-American feminist Collins feels they are a unique group set undeniably apart because of race and sex with a unique set of challenges. Collins words to describe the four ways that she says black women validate knowledge claims: o Lived experienced as a criterion of meaning: Living through actual experiences means those individuals are more credible then those who just read about the experiences. o The use of dialogue in assessing knowledge claims: Everyone has to participate in the experiment. If one person does not it is considered cheating. o The ethic of caring: Emotion equals a way to show how powerful the argument can be. o The ethic of personal accountability: The knowledge of the experience that someone claims has happened to them can all be evaluated based on the individuals character, values, and ethics.

Seyla Benhabib: Professor of government at Harvard University Wants to maintain that a universal ethical standard is a viable possibility. Sets out to defend the tradition of universalism in the face of this triple-pronged critique by engaging the claims of feminism, communitarianism, and postmodernism. Feels the force of three major attacks on Enlightenment rationality and Habermas discourse ethics o Postmodern Critique: o Communitarian Critique: o Feminist Critique: Carol Gilligan, Deborah Tannen, Sandra Harding, Julia Wood, and Cheris Kramarae all concur that the way women experience something and then retell what happened is different from the way men experience something and talk about what happened.

Regardless of these three critiques, Benhabib believes that a new breed of universal ethic is still possible. She likes to believe that this may include a obligation of helping people survive and flourish.

Susan Heckman and Nancy Hirschmann Feminist Scholars Concerned that Hardings version of standpoint theory miscalculate the function that language plays in conveying ones sense of self and the perception of the world. Along with many other theorists, they feel peoples communication choices are never neutral or free-value, so people cant separate their standpoint from the language they used to describe it. Words that are chosen are based on individuals cultural and societal filters.