ABSTRACT
This chapter evaluates the merits of Harding’s approach in relation to developing and making use of scientific knowledge for enhancing gender equity and social justice in society. Within feminist studies, the field of “gender and science” has rapidly established itself as a major area of investigation. The chapter argues that Sandra Harding conception of “mainstream” science is false, and that, consequently, her claim that science is androcentric is equally untenable. Harding assumes as valid an empiricist conception of natural science based on the epistemological foundation of the “mechanical observation of nature and others.” Although Harding acknowledges the work of other feminist critics of science, she is nevertheless critical of the current state of affairs. According to her assessment, there are five different, and even contradictory, programs which try to explain science and gender. The problem of theorizing gender within the context of the natural sciences is particularly urgent according to Harding, and is fraught with specific difficulties.
