Feminism and Discourse: Psychological Perspectives

Discourse analysis is now a key methodology in social psychology and is considered an important tool by feminist psychologists. Feminism and Discourse is not only representative of the diverse schools using discourse analysis but also offers an informed examination of the value and methodology for feminism and psychology. A critical introduction contextualizes the recent debates in discourse analysis and illustrates four topics of key feminist concern: adolescent knowledge about menstruation, sexual harassment, gendered representation, and anorexia nervosa. The second part of the book contains five assessments of the utility of discourse analysis--both as theory and as method. Feminism and Discourse constitutes both a showcase for a major area of contemporary feminist social psychology in Britain and a critical evaluation of discourse analysis for the feminist project of intellectual, social, and political change. This book is essential reading for discourse analysts across the social sciences and for feminist social psychologists. It will also be of interest to students in social psychology, the psychology of women, psychology and language, women′s studies, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, and cultural studies.

Sue Wilkinson and Celia Kitzinger are active members of the Loughborough Discourse and Rhetoric Group (DARG) and teach courses on Feminism and Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University.

Wilkinson: Feminism and Discourse

CONTRIBUTORS OUTSIDE WESTERN HEMISPHERE

Erica Burman Manchester Metropolitan University

Anna Dempsey Loughborough University

Rosalind Gill Brunel University

Christine Griffin Birmingham University

Julie Hepworth Birmingham University

Kathryn Matthews Lovering University of Plymouth

Deborah Marks Manchester Metropolitan University

Corinne Squire Brunel University

Alison Thomas University of East London

Margaret Wetherell Open University

Sue Widdicombe Edinburgh University