Exploring the Notion of Experience in Feminist Thought

Why is the notion of experience so relevant for feminist theory? How has the concept been used and by whom? What are the theoretical and political implications of postmodern theory for a re-thinking of the concept? In these pages we will explore the uses and abuses of the concept of experience in contemporary feminist thought through the works of influential feminist intellectuals. This article has two aims. The first is to create a theoretical space for reflection and re-appraisal of the concept of experience inspired by Dorothy Smith’s contribution to feminist sociology. The second is to shift these debates from the periphery to the centre of sociology by taking into account the centrality of the concept for the discipline.