Feminist Views of the Social Sciences

Overview: Among the many achievements of the feminist movement of the 1970s was the unprecedented influx of women into academia. Over the last 25 years, women have entered the social sciences in huge numbers - bringing with them new perspectives and new insights into the social world. This special issue of The Annals reflects on this multivocal, richly textured, and dynamic revolution. From anthropology to psychology to geography to criminology and more, leading feminists reflect on the most significant contributions of feminist activism and feminist research to their fields. Two main themes run through this volume: the relationship between feminist scholarship and feminist activism, and the enduring controversies and future direction of feminist social science. The contributions run the gamut from the impact of feminism on specific social science disciplines such as family studies, archaeology, political science, and media studies to the influence of feminist thought on specific topics such as federally funded social science, migration, media practices, and sexuality. The main conclusion of this volume is that, "where reigning paradigms are strong and the accepted methodologies are limited, feminist perspectives tend to be marginalized. On the other hand, fields that are theoretically eclectic and interdisciplinary appear to be the most welcoming to feminist influence."