Navigating disciplinary margins: Interdisciplinarity and conflict of expertise in gender violence studies

Abstract

This article analyzes the place of feminist sociology in the field of violence studies. It describes the hierarchical relationships between the disciplines involved in this field and examines their effects on feminist scientific production. I describe the study that prompted these analyses, noting the problems that arose while conducting it, and the situation of the field and the marginal status of sociology within it. In the first part of the analysis, the status of sociology and psychology in the Quebec and North American context is discussed. The effects of sociology’s marginal status are then illustrated and discussed in their institutional and cultural dimensions.

Keywords

• disciplinary hierarchies,
• reflexivity,
• margins,
• feminist studies,
• violence studies