THE “WOMAN QUESTION” IN CRIMINAL SCIENCES: CONTRIBUTIONS OF A FEMINIST METHODOLOGY TO THE FIELD OF LAW

Abstract

Objective: This paper discusses the possibilities and challenges of applying a feminist method in criminal sciences. In dialogue with feminist epistemologies, especially mobilizing the notion of positioned knowledge, we propose an exercise of strangeness of the representation of criminal subjects in academic texts.

Contextualization: The discussions of this article are the result of a documentary research experience centered on the representations of women who commit the crime of illegal drug trade, having as source of analysis scientific articles published in an important journal in the area. To highlight the gender marks in these texts we use the feminist legal method developed by the American author Katharine Bartlett in the text Feminist Legal Methods (1990).

Methodology: This article is the result of theoretical, political and especially epistemological reflections that emerged in the methodological design of this research. In this sense, we use, in this article, a review of national and international literature, especially feminist productions on methods and policies of knowledge production in law.

Results and contributions: With this work we seek to contribute to the development of research in the interface of gender and law that allow thinking not only of other paths, but also other questions to the field of Criminal Sciences.