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Shifting boundaries, dismantling brick walls: Feminist knowledge in the struggles to transform economic thinking and policy

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  • Emma Lamberg

Abstract

This article contributes to ongoing debates on the politics of feminist knowledge transfer by considering how feminist professionals advocate transformative economic thinking and policies. I draw on interviews with an under‐researched group—feminist professionals with specialized knowledge about the economy—to argue that feminist economic experts' transformative politics is shaped by highly contextual efforts to lend credibility to feminist alternatives to conventional economic knowledge and policy. Combining feminist scholarship on scientific boundary‐work with theorizing on resistance to feminist institutional transformation, the article analyzes the practices that feminist experts use to reframe their knowledge claims to get their messages through to decision‐makers. I suggest that although feminist boundary‐work is likely to come up against ‘brick walls’ of institutional resistance, it can dismantle such walls by gradually shifting the boundaries of legitimate economic knowledge and policies.

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  • Emma Lamberg, 2025. "Shifting boundaries, dismantling brick walls: Feminist knowledge in the struggles to transform economic thinking and policy," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 100-115, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:gender:v:32:y:2025:i:1:p:100-115
    DOI: 10.1111/gwao.13135
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pauline Cullen & Myra Marx Ferree & Mieke Verloo, 2019. "Introduction to special issue: Gender, knowledge production and knowledge work," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(6), pages 765-771, June.
    2. Peter H. Egger & Guangzhong Li & Jie Li, 2019. "Introduction to the special issue on China," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(4), pages 1001-1001, September.
    3. Marilyn Power, 2004. "Social Provisioning As A Starting Point For Feminist Economics," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 3-19.
    4. Susan Himmelweit, 2002. "Making Visible the Hidden Economy: The Case for Gender-Impact Analysis of Economic Policy," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(1), pages 49-70.
    5. Jérôme De Henau & Susan Himmelweit, 2021. "A Care-Led Recovery From Covid-19: Investing in High-Quality Care to Stimulate And Rebalance The Economy," Feminist Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(1-2), pages 453-469, April.
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