ABSTRACT
Similar to Indigenous philosophy and knowing, feminism offers a number of different perspectives to mainstream knowledge production. Feminism became one of the most influential movements of the twentieth century and, like other movements, continues to exhibit different strands of thought. In general terms, if feminism is taken to mean ‘the advocacy of women’s rights and the rights of all peoples on the grounds of political, social, economic and intellectual equality’, then there are significant implications for education. For the purposes of this book, feminism should contribute understandings that are consistent with and support democratic intersubjective praxis strategies and which build upon the socio-cultural ideas and practices of all participants. For example, as a beginning point of discussion, we could propose feminist knowledge categories of the type:
Archivist: knowledge of family and community.
Elder: knowledge of the world and culture.
Womanly: knowledge of gender and difference.
Sex: knowledge of reproduction, children and practices.
Equity: knowledge of discrimination.
Activist: knowledge of social action.
If it is possible to identify a number of feminist knowledges, then it could mean that women understand the world differently to men, substantially or in part and that their approach to knowledge production itself is also different, substantially or in part. Could this mean a feminist praxis or a praxis feminism? There is a literature that considers the relationship between pragmatism and feminism, with Hypatia of Alexandria (400bc) and Dewey’s colleague and Nobel Prize winner Jane Addams usually mentioned here. However the connection between praxis and feminism has not been explored extensively. Many women have made important contributions to philosophy and education, but their work is often overlooked or given cursory attention. This chapter attempts to identify feminist perspectives of praxis, feminist categories of knowledge and implications for education systems that will counter neoliberal imperatives of individualism, exclusion and superiority.
