Call for Chapters: Emancipatory Feminist Research Methods: Power, Voice, Reflexivity

Editors

Welile Msimango, University of Zululand, South Africa

Call for Chapters

Proposals Submission Deadline: July 16, 2026
 Full Chapters Due: September 17, 2026
 Submission Date: September 17, 2026

Introduction

In a context of enduring social inequalities, feminist research has increasingly positioned itself as a transformative and emancipatory practice. Emancipatory Feminist Research Methods: Power, Voice, Reflexivity advances this agenda by reimagining research as an ethical, political, and relational process that challenges dominant knowledge systems while centring marginalized experiences. Feminist scholars have long demonstrated that knowledge is socially situated and shaped by power relations rather than neutral or value-free (Haraway, 1988; Harding, 1991). This volume is grounded in three interconnected pillars. First, power is critically examined within research processes, highlighting how traditional methodologies often reproduce inequalities, while advocating for participatory and collaborative approaches that redistribute authority (Lather, 1991). Second, the notion of voice is explored beyond simplistic ideas of “giving voice,” interrogating whose perspectives are represented and how narratives are constructed and interpreted (Fine, 1994). Third, reflexivity is positioned as central to feminist inquiry, emphasizing the need for researchers to critically engage with their own positionalities, assumptions, and ethical responsibilities (England, 1994). Drawing on diverse and global perspectives, including contributions from the Global South, this book highlights the importance of contextually grounded and socially responsive methodologies. It calls for a shift from research on people to research with people foregrounding collaboration, accountability, and social justice as integral to knowledge production.

Objective

•Examine how power dynamics shape research design, relationships, and outcomes, and explore emancipatory strategies that promote equity, participation, and the co-construction of knowledge. •Facilitate inclusive research spaces that centre marginalized, silenced, and underrepresented perspectives, ensuring their lived experiences are ethically represented and valued within scholarly discourse. •Analyze how narratives are constructed, interpreted, and communicated, and problematize assumptions about “giving voice” in order to promote responsible and context-sensitive representation. •Investigate how ongoing critical self-reflection enables researchers to engage with their positionalities, challenge biases, and enhance ethical accountability in the research process. •Explore research approaches that shift from extractive practices toward partnerships with participants as co-researchers, fostering shared ownership and transformative outcomes. •Engage diverse perspectives, particularly from the Global South, to challenge epistemic dominance and enrich feminist methodological practices through context-sensitive insights. •Demonstrate how feminist research can move beyond knowledge generation to actively contribute to social transformation, advocacy, and policy change.

Target Audience

This book is intended for a broad and interdisciplinary audience committed to critical, socially responsive, and transformative research practices: Postgraduate students (Master’s and PhD) in fields such as education, sociology, gender studies, anthropology, and development studies who seek to engage with feminist, participatory, and emancipatory research methodologies. Academic researchers and scholars interested in qualitative inquiry, feminist theory, critical pedagogy, and decolonial approaches to socially just knowledge production. Lecturers and educators in higher education who aim to integrate reflexive, participatory, and ethically grounded research practices into their teaching, supervision, and curriculum design. Feminist researchers and practitioners employing innovative qualitative approaches such as life history research, photovoice, and visual participatory methodologies to centre lived experiences and amplify marginalized and silenced voices. Community-based researchers, NGOs, and civil society practitioners who prioritize collaborative, inclusive, and action-oriented research as a means of empowerment and social change. Policy makers and development practitioners seeking contextually grounded, ethically produced insights that reflect the realities of underrepresented communities and inform responsive policy and practice. Emerging scholars, particularly who are working to challenge dominant Western epistemologies and advance locally relevant, decolonial, and socially situated research frameworks. This book is suited for readers who view research not merely as an academic exercise, but as a powerful tool for hearing unheard voices, fostering critical reflexivity, and advancing social justice and transformative change.

Recommended Topics

Section I: Feminist Theories and Epistemologies • Feminist Epistemologies and Contemporary Knowledge Production • Power, Voice, and Representation in Research • Intersectionality and Feminist Inquiry • Feminist Standpoint Theory and Situated Knowledge • Ethics of Voice and the “Voicing the Voiceless” Debate in Feminist Research • Black Feminist Thought and Epistemic Resistance • Embodiment, Affect, and Lived Experience in Feminist Knowledge • Narrative, Memory, and Storytelling as Feminist Epistemologies Section II: Feminist Research Methodologies and Practices • Reflexivity and Positionality in Feminist Research • Feminist Qualitative Methodologies and Emancipatory Inquiry • Participatory and Community-Based Research Approaches • Decolonial and Indigenous Feminist Methodologies • Visual Participatory Research as Emancipatory Praxis • Photovoice Studies: Visualising Lived Experience and Resistance • Life History and Oral Narratives as Emancipatory Methods • Arts-Based Feminist Research: Poetry, Performance, and Creative Expression • Autoethnography and the Politics of Self in Feminist Inquiry • Feminist Ethics in Practice: Care, Accountability, and Relationality Section III: Feminist Research in Contemporary Contexts • Feminist Pedagogies and Transformative Learning • Academic Voice, Authorship, and Identity in Feminist Scholarship • Ethics of Care and Social Justice in Research Practice • Feminist Digital Methodologies and Contemporary Scholarship • Critical Women’s Issues in Contemporary Societies: Violence, Inequality, and Resistance • Feminist Research in Higher Education Transformation • Gender, Technology, and Digital Inequalities • Climate Justice and Ecofeminist Research Perspectives • Feminist Approaches to Health, Wellbeing, and Care Work Section IV: Global South and African Feminist Perspectives • African Feminist Perspectives on Research and Scholarship • Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Feminist Inquiry • Challenging Coloniality in Knowledge Production • Black Women’s Experiences in Research and Everyday Life • Black Female Academics: Navigating Power, Voice, and Institutional Spaces Section V: Praxis, Transformation, and Future Directions • Feminist Praxis and Emancipatory Research • Collaborative, Participatory, and Future-Oriented Knowledge Production • Reflexivity as Transformative Praxis in Feminist Research • From Research to Action: Advocacy, Policy, and Social Change • Decolonising the Future: Feminist Research Agendas in the Global South • Reimagining Knowledge Production: Toward Inclusive and Just Futures • Women as Knowledge Producers: Reclaiming Authority in Research Spaces • Black Women, Creativity, and Storytelling as Resistance

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before July 16, 2026, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by July 30, 2026 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines.Full chapters of a minimum of 10,000 words (word count includes references and related readings) are expected to be submitted by September 17, 2026, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ prior to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-anonymized review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Emancipatory Feminist Research Methods: Power, Voice, Reflexivity. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-anonymized peer review editorial process.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing, an international academic publisher of the "Information Science Reference", "Medical Information Science Reference", "Business Science Reference", and "Engineering Science Reference" imprints. IGI Global Scientific Publishing specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2027.

Indexing Information for Prospective Authors

IGI Global Scientific Publishing meets the criteria for inclusion in major indexing services such as Scopus; however, it is important to note that all indexing decisions are made independently by these services. IGI Global Scientific Publishing books are selectively indexed by the indexing organization after publication. Indexing cannot be guaranteed for any book prior to publication, and the indexing organization has complete control over the final selection and timeline.

Important Dates

July 16, 2026: Proposal Submission Deadline
July 30, 2026: Notification of Acceptance
September 17, 2026: Full Chapter Submission
October 22, 2026: Review Results Returned
November 19, 2026: Final Acceptance Notification
November 26, 2026: Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries

Welile Msimango University of Zululand msimangow@unizulu.ac.za
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