Feminist theory and methodologies: Crossing disciplinary boundaries

"Women's Studies, Gender Studies, Feminist Studies," with the theme of the subordination of women, is marked by diverse and overlapping intellectual traditions and movements. We take a non-Western perspective of this diversity. We use the terms interchangeably, as in the historical development from the earlier focus on Women's Studies and more recent shift to Gender Studies in the West as well as in third world Women's Studies, these disciplines have a close relationship with Feminism and the Women's Movement and have gained from each other.The chapter covers issues including the Women's Movements, Women's Studies/Feminism, the different waves of feminism, feminist perspectives, feminist research / feminist methods, objectivity for feminist research and feminist theories. We cover theory and method for social science in general, but there is a section that features psychology specifically and highlights the different strands of feminism.