Research at the Centre is oriented toward basic research and is grounded in the analysis of concrete materials, using theoretical and methodological approaches developed in different social science and humanities disciplines.
A particular concern is to challenge and further develop the theoretical, methodological and methodical approaches of established disciplines, based on the understandings and critiques of science that originate in feminist theory.
In short, one can say that STK is interdisciplinary in that the staff are rooted in different disciplines, but cross-disciplinary in its focus on the underlying foundational debates within these disciplines, grounded in feminist theory and critique of science.
Feminist theory, epistemology and methodology
Feminist philosophy and theory encompasses a broad range of understandings of gender, power, society, culture, nature, technology and ethics. These theoretical orientations may also involve different positions regarding the relationship between knowledge, politics and social movements.
At STK, we work in particular with feminist perspectives grounded in existentialism, historical materialism, psychoanalysis, hermeneutics and poststructuralism (including queer theory).
Feminist epistemology (that is, feminist theories of knowledge) emphasises how experiences, values, context and social position shape what and how we know about the world. However, from this insight emerge different proposals as to what implications this has, or should have, for the ambition of objectivity. Feminist methodology and methods involve strategies for critical and reflexive acquisition, interpretation and analysis of experiences, emotions and relationships, as they are shaped by broader ideological, structural and material conditions.
Our analytical categories: gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality, intersectionality, equality/diversity
Gender, ethnicity, class and sexuality are expressions of underlying structures in society, which must be understood in relation to, and against the background of, these structures. At STK, men’s and masculinity studies are a strong field, among other things through our involvement in networks for men’s and masculinity studies.
Our empirical fields
For the sake of simplicity, our empirical fields can be divided into two main groups:
Family, work, society, international relations
Here we are concerned with how gender and gendered social relations, as well as class and ethnicity, play out in everyday life and lived experience in families, close relationships, work and education, within and across different social institutions and social contexts, and in processes of war and peace.
History, literature, culture and religion
Here we focus on translation and the travels of concepts, cultural expressions, religion, literary history and the history of philosophy, from perspectives of gender, sexuality and intersectionality.