Futuro Del Estado De Bienestar

The main theoretical influence upon this research is feminism, specifically social and radical feminist theory. This includes the concept that feminism is a perspective—a way of seeing; an epistemology—a way of knowing; and an ontology—a way of being in the world (Stanley 1990). The experience of acting against perceived oppression is seen as giving rise to a distinctive ontology and it is the analytical exploration of this in the research process that gives expression to a distinctive epistemology (Stanley 1990: 12–38). A feminist approach is concerned with the conditions under which some classes of people but not others, are treated as (or come to feel they are treated as) other and consequently construct a shared/social epistemology (way of knowing) of that distinctly defined ontological position (Stanley 1990: 15).

Nielsen (1989) suggests feminist inquiry represents a paradigm shift (Nielsen 1989: 24). Jagger (1983) calls that shift feminist standpoint, defining

standpoint as a ‘position in society from which certain features of reality come into prominence and from which others are obscured’ (Jagger 1983, cited in Nielsen 1989: 24). Nielsen argues that:

Feminist standpoints begin with but do not end with women’s

experiences, and as in the case of other standpoint epistemologies, they are more than perspectives. They involve a level of awareness and consciousness about one’s social location and this location’s relation to one’s lived experience (Nielsen 1989: 24).

Feminist standpoint informs this study, that is, any theorising is ‘grounded in women’s material reality’ providing a basis for ‘a specifically feminist

materialism…from which to both critique and to work against’ the ideology and institutions of patriarchy (Hartsock, in Harding 1987: 175-6). A feminist

standpoint argues that:

…the ‘sexual division of labour’ uniquely makes available to women a vision of the real social relations that is unavailable to men insofar as they (intentionally or unintentionally) benefit from the exploitation of women (Hartsock, in Harding 1987: 157).

A feminist analysis locates the issue of violence against women by their male partner within a wider social, historical and cultural context. Whilstsocial and radicalfeminists have long challenged universal/objective claims (Bell & Klein 1996), they also maintain the usefulness of locating violence against women by their male partners within the concepts of patriarchy and capitalism,

identifying them as sources of women’s oppression (Kelly 1998). Patriarchy is defined as:

…a system of structures and institutions created by men in order to sustain and recreate male power and female subordination. Such structures include: institutions such as the law, religion and the family; ideologies which perpetuate the ‘naturally’ inferior position of women; socialisation processes to ensure that women and men develop behaviour and belief systems appropriate to the powerful or less powerful group to which they belong (Rowland & Klein, in Bell & Klein 1996: 15).

African American theorist bell hooks suggests that while women’s

experiences of patriarchal oppression differ by race, class and culture, what makes feminism still possible is that ‘feminism names the fact that women can federate around their common resistance to all the different forms of male domination’ (hooks 1984, cited in Harding 1987: 188). Harding suggests this as a response to postmodernist critics of a unitary feminist perspective (Harding 1987: 188-189). The status of women within social structures of production, reproduction and sexuality is therefore the focus of action for social change (Tong 1989). As feminist researcher Liz Kelly states:

What distinguishes feminist research is the theoretical framework…It must be predicated on both the theoretical premise and the practical commitment: its purpose being to understand women’s oppression in order to change it. Feminism is, therefore, both a mode of

understanding and a call to action (Kelly 1988: 3).

For social and radical feminist researchers, the argument that gender is a social construction is central to their research. Gender is viewed as impacting

at a micro level on individuals and at a macro level through the distribution of power and privilege. According to Lather:

The overt ideological goal of feminist research in the human sciences is to correct both the invisibility and the distortion of female experience in ways relevant to ending women’s unequal social position (Lather 1991: 71).

A feminist research paradigm aims to ‘illuminate issues from the standpoint of women’ (Gregg, in Riessman 1994: 49) and includes a primary focus on women’s voices being heard:

At the core of feminist research, therefore, is the commitment to give voice to previously marginalised and silenced people (Davis &

Srinivisan 1994: 348).

It also recognises that the relationship between researcher and respondent is also a crucial tool of any research method aiming to elicit social reality

(Oakley 1981; Stanley & Wise 1983; Coorey 1988, Reinharz 1992). Sandra Harding (1987, cited in Hyde 1994: 173) suggests that feminist research shares the following emancipatory agenda: knowledge is grounded in

women’s experiences; the research should benefit women and the researcher should immerse herself, or show empathy for, the world being researched (Shaw & Gould 2001: 37). In contrast to postmodernists, social and radical feminists are interested in women both ‘as individuals and as a social category’ (Reinharz 1992: 241).

Feminist methods

Methods are the techniques utilised to gather and analyse data relevant to the research question. Feminist method is centrally concerned with bringing about changes for women through social action. This implies directly working with the women who are the objects of the research. In contrast, post-structuralists focus on ‘textual strategies that disrupt illusionary notions of found worlds’ (Lather 1991: 681). As a feminist, I agree with Whitford’s caution:

Playing with a text, from Irigaray’s point of view, is a rather solipsistic activity; it is not a dialogue with the other which includes process and the possibility of change (Whitford 1991, cited in Lather 1991: 681).

However, feminist researchers have differing views on the appropriateness of various methods. Reinharz (1992) considers that it is how the method is used that identifies it as feminist research. She offers an inductive definition of feminist methodology arising from the sum of feminist research methods. The 10 themes she identifies are:

1. Feminism is a perspective not a research method. 2. Feminists use a multiplicity of research methods.

3. Feminist research involves an ongoing criticism of non-feminist scholarship.

4. Feminist research is guided by feminist theory. 5. Feminist research may be trans-disciplinary. 6. Feminist research aims to create social change.

7. Feminist research strives to represent human diversity.

8. Feminist research frequently includes the researcher as a person. 9. Feminist research frequently attempts to develop special relations with the people studied (in interactive research).

10. Feminist research frequently defines a special relation with the reader (Reinharz 1992: 240).

This view is supported by British feminist researchers Kelly, Burton and Regan who suggest that ‘what makes research “feminist” is not the methods as such, but the framework within which they are located, and the particular ways in which they are deployed’ (Kelly, Burton & Regan, in Maynard & Purvis 1994: 46). Feminists have long criticised positivism and challenged notions of objectivity by placing themselves in their research and rejecting detachment (Riessman 1994). They have sought methods that are congruent with feminist epistemology, including qualitative research methods. A qualitative approach was chosen for this study, utilising in-depth interviews to provide a richness of data. (Basic demographic data, that was not intended to be generalisable, was also collected.) Feminist methods are congruent with the values of the

researcher and particularly suitable for working with women and for research focusing on violence against women by a male partner (Reinharz 1996; Bell & Klein 1996; Kelly et al. 1994; Hanmer & Itzin 2000).