Standpoint Theory of Sandra Harding and Julia Wood

Theorists:

Sandra Harding

* Professor of Education and Gender Studies at UCLA.

* Awarded the John Desmond Bernal Prize of Society in 2013.

    * “When people speak from the opposite sides of power, the perspective from the lives of the less powerful can provide a more objective view than the perspective from the lives of the more powerful.”

Julia Wood

* Professor of Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (Griffin, 2012)

* Authored and edited over 25 books.

The Standpoint Theory

Standpoint – It is a place where we can view the world around, synonymous to perspective, viewpoint and outlook

People view themselves belonging to a social hierarchy defined by riches, gender preference, culture, social competence and other biases. Among these cultural biases come racial issues, a problem dating back from the beginning of civilization, when nations were first built and people gave themselves definitions of who’s who in power. The Caucasians were thought to be of royal blood because their fair skin could clearly show their veins. Automatically, they were seen as more powerful than those who had dark skin such as Africans. In contrast to the view of Caucasians being blue-blooded, dark-skinned people were considered as slaves or of the lowest form in the social pyramid

 

From the issue on race arises the issue on gender equality. Men are traditionally viewed as more dominant than women. For generations, women have not been able have equal opportunities as men. This may have stemmed from several cultural practices of a patriarchal society, such as that of the Middle East’s. Because of this, women have become a marginalized group.

“The social groups within which we are located powerfully shape what we experience and know as well as how we understand and communicate with ourselves and the world” (Griffin, 2012, p. 447)

Women as a Marginalized Group

Standpoint theorists see the important differences between men and women. Wood uses the relational dialectics of autonomy-connectedness as a case in point: “While all humans seem to seek both autonomy and connectedness, the relative amount of each that is preferred appears to differ rather consistently between genders” Relational dialectics says that individuals seek autonomy yet also connectedness. Griffin (2012) states that men want autonomy and women want connectedness. This difference is evident in each group’s communication. The masculine community uses speech to accomplish tasks, assert self and gain power. The female community on the other hand uses speech to build relationships and show responsiveness.

Objective Standpoint

Harding (1991) explains that the social group that gets to become the definers of the world have an impact on history more than any other social group. 

Local Knowledge - refers to knowledge of place, time, experience, and relative power (Griffin, 2012, p. 452)

Strong Objectivity - refers to the strategy of research on marginalized groups, including women, and their experiences that are usually not paid much attention (Griffin, 2012).

Weak Objectivity – information only taken in from the dominant groups

Black Feminist Standpoint

Collins (1998) refers to black women’s social location as being an “outsider within.” They can provide an objective viewpoint of white society—a society they will never become a part of. Collins provides a different insight from Harding and Wood’s standpoint theory because Collins recognizes black women’s standpoint as an entirely unique margin (Griffin, 2012).

Further, Collins (2000) defines four methods of black women’s knowledge validation in her book Black Feminist Thought:

1. Lived experience as a criterion of meaning.
2.  The use of dialogue in assessing knowledge claims.
3.  The ethic of caring.
4. The ethic of personal accountability.