ABSTRACT

This chapter draws on the insights of the author as a feminist pedagogue within mainstream sociology and asks why four decades after a feminist critique of ‘malestream’ sociology emerged, a feminist transformation of sociological knowledge is still not a real and concerted presence. Though feminist topics, modules and courses have been included in different courses in sociology and at different levels in the three-year undergraduate programme at the University of Mumbai, there hasn’t been a significant shift in epistemologies, research paradigms and pedagogies. These are largely rooted within a positivist frame, devoid of a feminist interrogation of the discipline. The result is increasing standardization in curriculum, prescribed readings, teaching practices and question pattern. This chapter argues for a critical feminist sociology that could radically alter sociology classrooms and lead to a more enriching and meaningful rendering of the discipline.