Whose Science? Whose Knowledge?: Thinking from Women's Lives Paperback – May 9, 1991

Although used, the book is in perfect condition

A feminist critique of the mainstream themes in the philosophy of science. Argues for a 'stand-point' approach, which entails the explicit incorporation of value-judgements into science and giving greater weight to the 'subjects' of study in social science. It is argued that by taking the stand-point of the subjective and lived-experiences of the oppressed into one's theories and practices, one's understanding of social phenomena can be both more 'objective' (in a special sense) and potentially empancipatory.

I've struggled with issues in my attempts to operate within the domain of "science" (soiology) - and I have formulated many critiques on my own, and then I came across this book, which gave me a vocabulary of critique and connected a lot of the thoughts I had been having, with new ones. Harding's work is original, fair, and very thought-provoking. It's a deconstruction of the concept of "objectivity" as it often is understood (implicitly) by practitioners of science. She explains that supposedly "value-free" science is actually very much situated and biased. She offers the beginnings of a new paradigm or epistemology, which she calls "strong objectivity". This is a mode of knowledge production that is more self-aware of its own situatedness, and, for this, generates more reliable, more responsible and more useful knowledge.

What an important book!