Field geographies

Philosophy section,A decade of innovative Geography (Article 689).

Epistemological discourses such as those that have emerged from women’s studies (particularly feminism) and development studies have, however, shown geographers that there is a need to challenge the power assumptions embedded in the whole process of research, including methodological choices that can include or exclude. By tracing these discourses and using examples from these two disciplines, this article demonstrates how contemporary geography has taken on board some of the new methodological approaches that have thus transpired. In turn, this has enriched geographical enquiry, which is now, much as the subject itself, seen as a social construct requiring critical reflection and challenge.

Epistemological discourses such as those that have
emerged from women’s studies (particularly feminism)
and development studies have, however, shown geographers
that there is a need to challenge the power assumptions
embedded in the whole process of research,
including methodological choices that can include or
exclude. By tracing these discourses and using examples
from these two disciplines, this article demonstrates how
contemporary geography has taken on board some of the
new methodological approaches that have thus transpired.
In turn, this has enriched geographical enquiry,
which is now, much as the subject itself, seen as a social
construct requiring critical reflection and challenge.