New perspectives in feminist methodological research

Over the past several decades, many pages and volumes have been written on the subject of feminist methods, including numerous issues of this journal that have been devoted to the topic.  There are several important contributing factors to the ongoing focus on this diverse subject over such a broad span of time.  First, feminist methods have been theorized and explored in virtually all research fields, including medicine, law, political science, history, sociology, linguistics, film and media studies and many, many others.  Second, feminist approaches to research and knowledge have literally transformed these fields in broad-reaching and profound ways, shifting attention to previously undervalued or neglected topics, and shifting priorities and approaches to those previously studied. Feminist research has altered our understanding of our world, and has influenced the way that research is conducted, not only by feminist researchers, but by many researchers following the dictates of state-of-the-art in their fields.  A third very significant reason for the sustained attention to feminist methods is that researchers who are dedicated to this type of work are engaged in a continual effort to extend the limits and definitions of their commitment to values such as egalitarianism, intersectionality, social change, and ethical challenges to the status quo, particularly as it relates to privilege and relations of power.  Beginning with commitments to investigate the voices and experiences of women and to interrogate the gender binary, feminist methods have moved well beyond these initial foci to investigate the boundaries of meaning that these concepts and ideas suggest.