‘Doing it with men’: feminist research practice and patriarchal inheritance practices in Welsh family farming

Internationally, the gender relations of the family farming ‘way of life’ have beenshown to be stubbornly persistent in their adherence to patriarchal inheritancepractices. This article demonstrates how such ‘agri-cultural’ practices are situated bothwithin the subjective sphere of farming individuals’ and within global agri-economics,bringing new challenges to patrilineal farm survival. It is suggested here that the recenttendency for post-structuralist theorisation in rural studies has underestimated theexistence and impact of patrilineal patterns in family farming. Such patterns mean thatwomen are shown to largely occupy relational gender identities as the ‘helper’, whilstmen are strongly identified as the ‘farmer’. Drawing on repeated life-history interviewsconducted with farming men and women from Powys, Mid Wales, the aim of thisarticle is to generate debate as to the extent to which men can be brought into feministresearch practice in order to reveal patriarchy to a greater degree. The article begins bysituating the near-exclusion of men from feminist research practice within theoreticaldevelopments in feminist geography. This discussion also assists in deriving issues ofresearch methods, positionality and interpretive power which focus the integration ofempirical material in the methodological reflections provided in section three. In sectiontwo, the rationale for the epistemological stance taken in the research is provided. Thearticle provides an example of the successful integration of men into a feminist researchframe, suggests avenues for theoretical development and identifies future researchdirections which can be informed by ‘doing it with men’.

Keywords: epistemology; family farming; feminist res

Rape Myths, Law, and Feminist Research: 'Myths About Myths?'

In an article recently published in the Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, the legal scholar Helen Reece argues that the prevalence and effects of rape myths have been overstated and the designation of certain beliefs and attitudes as myths is simply wrong. Feminist researchers, she argues, are engaged 'in a process of creating myths about myths' in a way that serves to close down and limit productive debate in this 'vexed' area. In this article we argue that Reece's analysis is methodologically flawed, crudely reductionist and rhetorically unyielding. We locate Reece's analysis within the wider theoretical field to show how her failure to engage with feminist literature on rape other than in the narrowest, most exclusionary terms, yields an approach which impedes rather than advances public understanding and panders to a kind of simplistic thinking which cannot begin to grapple with the complexity of the phenomenon that is rape. We conclude by emphasizing the continuing commitment of feminist researchers carefully to theorizing and (re)mapping the fraught field of progressive legal strategizing in order to identify and counter the kinds of risks and shortcomings of political activism with which Reece is rightly concerned.

Doing feminist research in a masculine paradigm

This paper aims to do three things; firstly the authors will present a case for their argument that marketing can be viewed as a masculine paradigm, secondly a critical perspective of traditional research methodologies within marketing and consumer research will be developed and, finally, the authors will share their own experiences of adopting alternative approaches and engaging in research reflexivity.

The Compromised Researcher : Issues in Feminist Research Methodologies

This article centres on issues of vulnerability and being compromised in feminist research where the focus has frequently been on researching the same. Compromise, here used in its pejorative sense, may for instance occur in terms of one’s research topic, the methods one utilizes, or the participants chosen for a study. Drawing on a range of examples including the methodological work of Ann Oakley (1981, 2000) as well as three articles on researching men that appeared in the journal Signs in 2005, I argue that feminist researchers, possibly because they work in an identity-based discipline, may be diversely vulnerable when researching the same and/or researching the different, and can be compromised both by how they are treated by those whom they encounter in their research and by their own behaviour in that context. I suggest that these concerns are under-articulated in feminist research and conclude with a series of questions that need to be raised. 

The emerging importance of feminist research paradigms in built environment research

Purpose – This paper seeks to establish and demonstrate the relevance of feminist research methods within built environment research. While no one definition of feminist research exists, many feminist researchers identify characteristics which distinguish it from traditional social science research; it is research that studies women, or that focuses on gender.
Design/methodology/approach – There is a growing body of research into women and the built environment adopting feminist paradigms. This paper explains the dynamic, evolving philosophical basis of feminist research methods drawing comparisons to traditional positivist methodologies and demonstrates that feminist research has characteristics that can be imported into other research paradigms.
Findings – The paper shows that there is much to be learned from an understanding of feminist research for all researchers in the built environment and that by adopting different approaches to research, researchers may find new and original ways of examining complex issues.
Research limitations/implications – The implications are that all researchers in the built environment should consider the benefits of adopting a feminist approach in their research especially where the researcher is seeking to gain a deeper understanding of peoples' experiences.
Originality/value – This paper seeks to raise awareness of the benefits of adopting feminist research methods in a discipline dominated by traditional approaches to research.

Gender inequality and education : changing local/global relations in a ‘post colonial’ world and the implications for feminist research

This article explores the relationship between education reform and gender equity, both within and between nation states. Utilising feminist critical policy analysis and post-colonial theory, it examines how education reform over the past decade has impacted on gender equity, and how educational reform is itself gendered. It considers the nature of gender restructuring; maps significant shifts in gender equity policy in the wider context of educational and social inequality debates; and through an analysis of recent research on gender identity, schooling and leadership argues that gender can no longer be privileged when identifying and responding to educational inequality. Key assumptions underpinning how social change and education reform delivers equity are questioned, concluding with feminist theorising about how social justice may inform equity policy and practice in culturally diverse educational contexts.

Moments of Collusion? Close readings of affective, hidden moments within feminist research

This paper addresses affective ‘moments of collusion’ present in feminist research relationships, and contextualises these seemingly personal encounters within a wider systematic framework of the early career researcher and the increasingly neoliberal climate of academia. Focusing on the temporal transition from doctoral research to postdoctorate research positions immediately post-PhD, this paper questions the concept of collusion within (immersive) fieldwork, and examines the delicate and complex question of who is colluding with whom, and for what purpose at different times within the early career academic journey. Specifically, this paper focuses on how the increasing pressures of the neoliberal university play out on our emotions and bodies during fieldwork, an area which still requires attention within the growing critiques of the affects of neo-liberalism in Higher Education. Using personal case studies as springboard for a far wider and important discussion, this paper situates such methodological dilemmas within a broader temporal framework of the increasingly precarious nature of early career academics, where ‘moments of collusion’ may be the only way to keep your head above water.

Qualitative Comparative Analysis as a Tool for Concept Clarification, Typology Building, and Contextualized Comparisons in Gender and Feminist Research

Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) is a method for the systematic analysis of cases. A holistic view of cases and an approach to causality emphasizing complexity are some of its core features. Over the last decades, QCA has found application in many fields of the social sciences. In spite of this, its use in feminist research has been slower, and only recently QCA has been applied to topics related to social care, the political representation of women, and reproductive politics. In spite of the comparative turn in feminist studies, researchers still privilege qualitative methods, in particular case studies, and are often skeptical of quantitative techniques (Spierings 2012). These studies show that the meaning and measurement of many gender concepts differ across countries and that the factors leading to feminist success and failure are context specific. However, case study analyses struggle to systematically account for the ways in which these forces operate in different locations.