Among the early influential sociologists were Marx, Weber, and Durkheim, Joey Sprague refers to these “dead white [holy] men” as the canon (Sprague 1997; 89). Sprague uses the metaphor of the chain of ideas that transcend time and location to describe the canon text. According to him, these theories normalize the social order and provide limited insight into social life of the dominated, which in turn reproduces the systems of inequalities. The inequalities are reproduced in two ways (Sprague 1997; 90). For one, contemporary work has focused on interpreting the classics. Our understanding of our world comes from ideas from a different historical time and place. Since the social order is considered universal, it normalizes the status quo, thereby reproducing inequality. Second, sociologists have tried to understand current issues with a distorted and limited perspective of the canon. In order to compensate for the pitfalls in classical theory, feminists suggest using the standpoint theory. It would allow for better knowledge on the social world and the bridging of theory and practice.
Feminists critique the classics on the matter of epistemology and departure from empiricism. The founding fathers of Sociology approached theory from a macro-sociology and positivist perspective. The discipline of sociology took social facts as its center of analysis. These external and universal systems were assumed to produce collective behavior. The epistemology issue is rooted in the concern of the source of this knowledge. The macro-sociology gained its importance from the views of early wealthy white men, whose work became sacred and then passed on to future generations without regard to the context in which it was produced. The knowledge produced reflected the experience of the white rich male. Males were alienated from nurturing domain and community; therefore, they resorted to controlling through ideology separated from the lived experience. This abstract individuation opposed empiricism, which was grounded on embodied vision—the idea that knowledge is derived from lived experience (Sprague 1997; 101). Females and the oppressed viewed the world as contextualized. However, the rich white male was the gatekeeper of ideas and omitted that standpoint. To emancipate those with divergent standpoints, the pitfalls of classical theory must be corrected.
Sprague presents three recurring themes of feminist critiques of classic theory (Sprague 1997; 94-95). (1) The knowledge available fails to include diverging standpoints to fully account for all areas of social life, both private and public spheres. (2) More often than not, logical dichotomies are used to understand the social world. However, the boundaries of “logical” dichotomies are artificially imposed, hence not natural and ought not to be used as a binary. (3) Lastly, social theory have not traditionally helped to emancipate, instead, it creates a passive role of the researcher. Sprague calls on sociologists to integrate the understanding of social phenomenon with practice. Using this feminist framework, I will analyze how policy in regard to high school dropouts is adopting a feminist framework.
In “The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts,” John M. Bridgeland mentions his preconceived notion was that high school dropouts were students with school failure. However, the report on high school dropouts showed that high school dropout reasons were a bit complex. The knowledge was gained through integrating perspectives of the dropouts. The integration of standpoints is key to the feminist theory. The findings showed that lack of connection between curriculum to its real-world application, the lack of parent engagement, the rigor of coursework, and other personal experiences determined whether someone would dropout. For instance, teenage pregnancy was an instance of a situation where multiple pressures contributed to dropouts. This experience was influenced by the social role of female and mother responsibilities. These issues need to be understood not only theoretically but also from the stance of those who experience such pressures and their context. In the video, there is a discussion on how this knowledge on the dropout population will be used to influence policy change. There was a discussion on how alternative school programs would focus on creating support groups and mentoring component, engaging parents in school process, and increasing rigor of work to engage the uninterested students.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJB6qI0Xv8
Reference:
Sprague, Joey. 1997. “Holy Men and Big Guns: The Can[n]on in Social Theory.” Gender and Society 11(1): 88-107.
Feminists critique the classics on the matter of epistemology and departure from empiricism. The founding fathers of Sociology approached theory from a macro-sociology and positivist perspective. The discipline of sociology took social facts as its center of analysis. These external and universal systems were assumed to produce collective behavior. The epistemology issue is rooted in the concern of the source of this knowledge. The macro-sociology gained its importance from the views of early wealthy white men, whose work became sacred and then passed on to future generations without regard to the context in which it was produced. The knowledge produced reflected the experience of the white rich male. Males were alienated from nurturing domain and community; therefore, they resorted to controlling through ideology separated from the lived experience. This abstract individuation opposed empiricism, which was grounded on embodied vision—the idea that knowledge is derived from lived experience (Sprague 1997; 101). Females and the oppressed viewed the world as contextualized. However, the rich white male was the gatekeeper of ideas and omitted that standpoint. To emancipate those with divergent standpoints, the pitfalls of classical theory must be corrected.
Sprague presents three recurring themes of feminist critiques of classic theory (Sprague 1997; 94-95). (1) The knowledge available fails to include diverging standpoints to fully account for all areas of social life, both private and public spheres. (2) More often than not, logical dichotomies are used to understand the social world. However, the boundaries of “logical” dichotomies are artificially imposed, hence not natural and ought not to be used as a binary. (3) Lastly, social theory have not traditionally helped to emancipate, instead, it creates a passive role of the researcher. Sprague calls on sociologists to integrate the understanding of social phenomenon with practice. Using this feminist framework, I will analyze how policy in regard to high school dropouts is adopting a feminist framework.
In “The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts,” John M. Bridgeland mentions his preconceived notion was that high school dropouts were students with school failure. However, the report on high school dropouts showed that high school dropout reasons were a bit complex. The knowledge was gained through integrating perspectives of the dropouts. The integration of standpoints is key to the feminist theory. The findings showed that lack of connection between curriculum to its real-world application, the lack of parent engagement, the rigor of coursework, and other personal experiences determined whether someone would dropout. For instance, teenage pregnancy was an instance of a situation where multiple pressures contributed to dropouts. This experience was influenced by the social role of female and mother responsibilities. These issues need to be understood not only theoretically but also from the stance of those who experience such pressures and their context. In the video, there is a discussion on how this knowledge on the dropout population will be used to influence policy change. There was a discussion on how alternative school programs would focus on creating support groups and mentoring component, engaging parents in school process, and increasing rigor of work to engage the uninterested students.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyJB6qI0Xv8
Reference:
Sprague, Joey. 1997. “Holy Men and Big Guns: The Can[n]on in Social Theory.” Gender and Society 11(1): 88-107.