2021
Statelessness & Citizenship Review
3(1)
knowledge that are much broader and vital for the interpretation of both the right
to and the lack of nationality. 5
In a paper on statelessness and feminist analysis, Deirdre Brennan suggests that
critical theory based on a feminist standpoint epistemology can provide a nuanced
and intersectional understanding of the experience of statelessness. 6 This
knowledge is also indispensable to challenging the established structures of
citizenship. At the same time, since statelessness is not a single issue operating in
vacuum, 7 we do need to understand its various intersections, diverse meanings,
experiences and challenges, first and foremost from stateless persons themselves.
As such, this approach becomes necessary not only for constructing critical,
dynamic and engaged knowledge with (rather than on or about) the stateless, 8 but
is equally vital for allowing the expression of noncitizenist accounts on the issue.
In this commentary, I introduce and propose the concept of stateless standpoint
epistemology as an approach in statelessness research for realigning knowledge
with stateless persons’ experiences. Basically, this means starting knowledge
about statelessness from the standpoints of stateless persons. Drawing on feminist
standpoint scholarship, I outline the elements of stateless standpoint epistemology
on a theoretical level with the aim to further develop it as the central methodology
for my ongoing research concerning the statelessness of Kurds from Syria. This
contribution, while in its initial phase, attempts to open the field of statelessness
studies to critical epistemologies and address the existing gap of methodological
discussions about how and what knowledge of statelessness is produced,
something that is much needed but is often marginally stated or left out from the
body of research.
FEMINIST STANDPOINT THEORY
The concept of standpoint epistemology was developed by feminist scholars as
part of several key negotiations aimed at redefining knowledge and methods of
inquiry into the intricate relationship between knowledge and power. 9 In her
discussions of the politics of science, Sandra Harding critically states that
knowledge is not neutral and is always situated depending on our position in the
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6
7
8
9
See for example Allison J Petrozziello, ‘(Re)Producing Statelessness via Indirect Gender
Discrimination: Descendants of Haitian Migrants in the Dominican Republic’ (2019) 57(1)
International Migration 213, 223–24.
Brennan (n 2) 173.
Lindsey N Kingston, ‘Worthy of Rights: Statelessness as a Cause and Symptom of
Marginalisation’ in Tendayi Bloom, Katherine Tonkiss and Phillip Cole (eds), Understanding
Statelessness (Routledge 2017) 17, 25.
See, eg, Charlie Rumsby, ‘Researching Childhood Statelessness’, Worlds Stateless Children
(Web Page, 2017) <http://children.worldsstateless.org/3/mobilising-against-childhoodstatelessness/researching-childhood-statelessness.html>.
See, eg, Sandra Harding, ‘“Strong Objectivity”: A Response to the New Objectivity Question’
(1995) 104(3) Synthese 331, 341–43; Sandra G Harding, The Feminist Standpoint Theory
Reader: Intellectual and Political Controversies (Routledge 2004); Patricia Hill Collins,
‘Comment on Hekman’s “Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited”:
Where’s the Power?’ (1997) 22(2) Signs 375; Patricia Hill Collins, ‘Toward an Afrocentric
Feminist Epistemology’ in Yvonna S Lincoln and Norman K Denzin (eds), Turning Points in
Qualitative Research: Tying Knots in a Handkerchief (AltaMira Press 2003); Dorothy E
Smith, ‘Comment on Hekman’s “Truth and Method: Feminist Standpoint Theory Revisited”’
(1997) 22(2) Signs 392; Dorothy E Smith, ‘From the Margins: Women’s Standpoint as a
Method of Inquiry in the Social Sciences’ (1997) 1(1) Gender, Technology and Development
113.
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