|
Standpoint theory is a postmodern method for analyzing inter-subjective discourses. This body of work concerns the ways that authority is rooted in individuals' knowledge (their perspectives), and the power that such authority exerts. Standpoint theory's most important concept is that an individual's own perspectives are shaped by his or her social and political experiences. Standpoints are multifaceted rather than essentializing: while Hispanic women may generally share some perspectives, particularly with regard to ethnicity or sex, they are not defined solely by their participation in these categories. The amalgamation of a person's many experienced dimensions form a standpoint--a point of view--through which that individual sees and understands the world. Standpoint theorists emphasize the utility of a naturalistic, or everyday experiential, concept of knowing (i.e., epistemology). One's standpoint (whether reflexively considered or not) shapes which concepts are intelligible, which claims are heard and understood by whom, which features of the world are perceptually salient, which reasons are understood to be relevant and forceful, and which conclusions credible.〔(【引用サイトリンク】first=Joey )〕 Standpoint theory supports what feminist theorist Sandra Harding calls strong objectivity, or the notion that the perspectives of marginalized and/or oppressed individuals can help to create more objective accounts of the world. Through the outsider-within phenomenon, these individuals are placed in a unique position to point to patterns of behavior that those immersed in the dominant group culture are unable to recognize. Standpoint theory gives voice to the marginalized groups by allowing them to challenge the status quo as the outsider within. The status quo representing the dominant white male position of privilege. The predominant culture in which all groups exist is not experienced in the same way by all persons or groups. The views of those who belong to groups with more social power are validated more than those in marginalized groups. Those in marginalized groups must learn to be bicultural, or to "pass" in the dominant culture to survive, even though that perspective is not their own.〔DeFrancisco, Victoria P. Communicating Gender Diversity: A Critical Approach. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, INC., 2007〕 For persons of color, in an effort to help organizations achieve their diversity initiatives, there is an expectation that they will check their color at the door in order to assimilate into the existing culture and discursive practices. ==History== Standpoint Theory was more theory based in the beginning, but now communication scholars, especially Nancy Hartsock, are focusing on looking at communication behaviors. Standpoint theory began when Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, a German philosopher, studied the different standpoints between slaves and masters in 1807.〔Wood, J.T. (2008). Critical feminist theories. In L.A. Baxter & D.O. Braithwaite (Eds.), Engaging theories in interpersonal communication: Multiple perspectives (pp. 323-334). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.〕 He analyzed that the master-slave relationship is about people's belonging positions, and the groups affect how people receive knowledge and power. Karl Marx also discussed that the position of a work shapes his or her knowledge. From these two scholars' studies, Nancy Hartsock examined Standpoint Theory by using relations between men and women. From this view, Nancy Hartsock published "The Feminist Standpoint: Developing Ground for a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism." The theory was similar to a combination of Marxist theory and feminism. Then, Hartsock put Hegel's ideas of masters and slaves and Marx's ideas of class and capitalism into issues of sex and gender. She refers to sex as a biological category and gender as a behavioral category. Therefore, Hartsock called this theory "Feminist Standpoint Theory" in 1983. The focus of this theory is women's social positions, such as race, class, culture, and economic status.〔Wallance, R.A., & Wolf, A. (1995). Contemporary sociological theory: Continuing the classical tradition. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.〕 "Developed primarily by social scientists, especially sociologists & political theorists; it extends some of the early insights about consciousness that emerged from Marxist/socialist feminist theories and the wider conversations about identity politics. Standpoint Theory endeavors to develop a feminist epistemology, or theory of knowledge, that delineates a method for constructing effective knowledge from the insights of women's experience."〔McCann and Kim ''Feminist Theory Reader:Local and global perspectives'' 2003〕 The theory arose amongst feminist theorists, such as Dorothy Smith, Nancy Hartsock, Donna Haraway, Sandra Harding, Alison Wylie, Lynette Hunter and Patricia Hill Collins. According to this approach: * A standpoint is a place from which human beings view the world. * A standpoint influences how the people adopting it socially construct the world. * A standpoint is a mental position from which things are viewed * A standpoint is a position from which objects or principles are viewed and according to which they are compared and judged * The inequalities of different social groups create differences in their standpoints. * All standpoints are partial; so (for example) Standpoint feminism coexists with other standpoints. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Standpoint theory」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|