Required reading for anyone who believes in the equality of the sexes. A long awaited, highly acclaimed new translation of Simone De Beauvoir's landmark work.

"Feminism has been enormously successful since the 1960s in revealing the ways in which exercise over woman. But as feminism has grown, it has become increasingly divided: white from black, first world from third world, working class from middle class, lesbian from heterosexuals. In this thought-provoking book, Caroline Ramazanoglu presents a scholarly but sympathetic evaluation of the problems inherent in feminist theory and politics. She examines the theoretical divisions in feminism with great sensitivity and insight, and concludes that the divisions (...) between women have arisen for good reason: women do have contradictory interests. Ramazanoglu argues clearly and powerfully that an escape from this impasse is possible if feminism can work positively with the contradiction in feminist politics, and focus on liberation rather than oppression." -- Back cover. (shrink)

Feminist social scientists often find that carrying feminism into practice in their research is neither easy nor straightforward. Designed precisely with feminist researchers in mind, Feminist Praxis gives detailed analytic accounts of particular examples of feminist research, showing how feminist epistemology can translate into concrete feminist research practices. The contributors, all experts in their field, give practical examples of feminist research practices, covering colonialism, child-minding, gay men, feminist social work, cancer, working with young girls using drama, Marilyn Monroe, statistics – (...) even the writing and reading of research accounts. These detailed accounts are located in relation to the position of feminism and of women generally in the academic world, and looked at in the light of discussions, debates, and controversies about feminist methodology across several disciplines. Feminist Praxis is unique in combining theoretical discussion of feminist methodology with detailed accounts of practical research processes. This blend of the practical and the theoretical will make it an invaluable text for feminists carrying out research at all levels, and it will also appeal to those interested in the relationship between theory, method and feminist epistemology. (shrink)