Knowledge, Difference, And Power: Essays Inspired By Women’s Ways Of Knowing

Ten years ago, Mary Belenky, Blythe Clinchy, Nancy Goldberger, and Jill Tarule wrote Women’s Ways of Knowing, a book The New York Times Book Review called “a framework for future research on women, knowledge, and identity.” In the decade that followed, their theory of women’s psychology, development, and ways of knowing has been applied in several fields, from the social sciences to the humanities, women’s studies, education, psychology, and law. But even as it was embraced by readers, Women’s Ways of Knowing also became the center of a fierce debate within academic circles. Now, in 14 illuminating new essays, the original authors and invited contributors explore how the theory introduced in Women’s Ways of Knowing has developed and shifted over the years and how it has been received, applied, used, and abused. The authors, and others, respond to critics of the original theory. The essays also expand the original argument beyond gender and knowing to address the complicating factors of race, class, and culture.