Feminist Methods, Political Science and the Current Moment
Friday, September 4, 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
2026 APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition — Boston, MA | Register here
In-person | Roundtable
Participants:
- (Chair) Natasha Behl, Arizona State University
- (Presenter) Dipali Anumol, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy
- (Presenter) Samuel Ritholtz, University of Oxford
- (Presenter) Jamie J. Hagen, University of Manchester
- (Presenter) Elisabeth Jean Wood, Yale University
- (Presenter) Milli Lake, London School of Economics
- (Presenter) Kate Cronin-Furman, University College London
Session Description:
Political Science, for the most part, relies on positivist epistemologies and quantitative methods with a heavy focus on theory-testing. This reliance limits the discipline’s understanding of the lived realities of violence, conflict and politics. By highlighting fieldwork findings and researchers’ embodied experiences, this panel will discuss how feminist field research methods can bring to light dimensions of violence that do not typically receive attention in mainstream political science. In the current moment of rising authoritarianism and feminist backlash, feminist methods help to foreground the fundamentally political nature of violence and resistance. These methods move beyond traditional Political Science to center the experiences of both the researched and the researcher as legitimate agents in the knowledge-production process. Most importantly, these methods attend to normative considerations which are increasingly vital to the broader public relevance of political science, especially amidst the multiple threats to democracy in our present moment. This political moment feels urgent as feminist theorizing, the very tool needed to understand our present moment and imagine an alternative future, is under attack. Feminist scholars are in a position to offer a critical analysis of the current political moment and imagine futures beyond it.
