Browsing by Author "Wickremasinghe, Maithree"

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“The Author May be Dead but the Critic is Alive and Kicking” Making Methodological Meanings of Contemporary Literary Theory/Criticism
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls - Gender at the Workplace
(2006) Wickremasinghe, Maithree; Jayatilaka, Wijaya
An epistemology of gender - An aspect of being as a way of knowing
(Elsevier Ltd, 2006) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
In this article, I examine the concept of gender as applied in Sri Lankan Women's/Gender Studies, and discuss the methodological assumptions behind the usages of the concept. It is based on theoretical understandings of contemporary currents in non/post-positivist methodologies, feminist theory and epistemologies, as well as postmodernism and postcolonialism. I argue for the conceptualisation of gender as ontology in local feminist research/writing by referring to the multiple conceptual constructions of gender as aspects of ‘being’-spanning gendered identities to societal systems. I then focus on gender as epistemology with regard to the ways in which Sri Lankan feminists use gender as political aspirations, theoretical constructs, analytical categories and methodologies. I argue that politicized experiences of gender are at the crux of conceptualising realities in formal knowledge. And conversely, that the gender realities conceptualized in knowledge also mediate in the actual enactments of realities; that gender epistemology (or a way of knowing) is also ontology (or a sense of being). This can be summed up with the convoluted statement that gender ontology as epistemology is gender epistemology as ontology.
The Ethics and Politics of Reading I Researching English Literature
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
With the interest generated in literary and critical theory over the last few decades, the politics of reading literature have been extensively theorized from many perspectives and disciplines. However, not much attention has been paid to the ethics of reading I researching literature in spite the recent global turn to methodology. The objectives of this paper are: to examine the politics of the act of reading I researching English literature within the Sri Lankan context; to consider the implications of the reader's standpoint in reading I researching; and to discuss the ethics relating to the practice of researching literature. Consequently, the paper will provide an overview of the ethical/political concerns of reading I researching literature that would be of critical importance especially for researchers adhering to the practice of reflexivity. My research methods for this paper are literature surveying, interviews with selected Sri Lankan researchers, and textual analysis of selected critical work. References will also be. made to the theoretical concerns of researching literature (such as the praxis of reflexivity and feminist research methodology). The theoretical understanding of postcolonial theory and poststructuralism will direct my reading I research process and conclusions. The paper concludes that while some political and ethical concerns can only be confined to clarification and expression, others require adherence to guidelines and the adjustment of the research activity or process. On the whole, for researching, my work implies that politics and ethics are symbiotic of one another and thus should comprise a key concern in researching I reading methodologies of English literature.
Feminist research methodology: Making meanings of meaning-making
(Routledge, 2010) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
Mentioning the word ‘methodology’ in conversation often elicits passive disinterest at the least, and vocal disdain at the most. For those practising development, the term can conjure up images of flow charts, log frames and data sets, while for those in academia, dry lectures on regression analysis may come to mind. Despite the consideration given to the subject of methodology in various fields, however, very little has been written linking feminist methodologies to development practice (one exception being Volume 15, Issue 2 of this journal, to which the author of this review contributed), and there is an even greater gap in such literature published from the perspective of feminist researchers working in the global South, although there is likely much work published locally that has escaped the attention of Northern audiences. Sri Lankan academic and self-described feminist researcher, Maithree Wickramasinghe, sets out to address these gaps in her book, Feminist Methodology: Making Meanings of Meaning-making, published by Routledge as the second book in its Research on Gender in Asia series.
From the Global to the Personal -Sri Lankan Feminist Epistemologies
(University of Kelaniya, 2005) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
The objective of this paper is to examine the construction / application of epistemologies in Sri Lankan research on women, gender and feminism. Despite the understanding that research content and methodologies are not neutral or independent of research contexts, researchers in the Social Sciences as well as Sciences are still to pay sufficient attention to methodological implications / assumptions of methods, ontology, epistemology, theory, and politics within research processes. By focusing on these facets of research methodology, this paper strives to provide insights into the discipline of Women's / Gender Studies, and methodological issues for fellow researchers to engage with in their work. The paper looks at feminist research studies in the Sri Lankan context of the past 30 years - ever since the proliferation of women's research in the country following the UN International Year of Women in 1975. Based on the theoretical understandings of feminist globalism, postcolonial feminism, liberal feminism, Marxist feminism, feminist standpoint epistemologies, and gender mainstreaming, the paper focuses on research studies from a methodological perspective. It is supported by a literature survey of Sri Lankan feminist research and interviews with feminist bibliographer/researchers, as well as an examination of selected research studies. The paper concludes that feminist epistemologies in Sri Lankan research are symbiotically linked to the ontological politics of the research context.
Gender dimensions in disaster management: a guide for South Asia
(Zubaan, 2005) Ariyabandu, M.M.; Wickremasinghe, Maithree
This book aims to address the dearth of specific information on the subject of'gender issues in disaster', particularly in the South Asian countries. Targeted at policy makers and development practitioners in South Asia, it argues that the risk posed by natural hazards is a variable, which has direct implications on development in general, and livelihoods in particular. The specific vulnerabilities and capacities of men and women, and the gender/social dynamics of disaster situations are often not obviously visible, but it is vital ...
Imagining the Future of English Studies in Sri Lanka
(Postcolonial Text, 2008) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
The submission is a speech made at the launch of Arbiters of a National Imaginary: Essays on Sri Lanka - a Festschrift for Professor Ashley Halpé edited by Chelva Kanaganayakam. The speech begins with a tribute to Professor Ashley Halpé, followed by a methodological perspective when examining the festschrift. While it does not technically review the articles in the book, it however discusses their significance for contemporary disciplinary practices of English Studies in Sri Lanka. The objective of the speech, therefore, is to argue for a paradigm shift in English Studies when engaging with the specificities of the Sri Lankan context, which would necessarily involve a consideration of the interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary directions of English, as well as the political and ethical needs of the local situation.
Introduction to Gender Mainstreaming Universities- Training Module
(2012) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
Making meaning of meaning-making: a case study of feminist research methodology in Sri Lanka
(Institute of Education, University of London, 2007) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
While women-related (WR) research has proliferated in Sri Lanka since 1975, research focusing on such literature and on research methodology is limited. My research concentrates on the theoretical frameworks, ontological and epistemological standpoints, methods, politics and ethics that constitute WR research methodology in Sri Lanka. In effect, it considers the ways in which researchers extract I construct meanings to fulfil feminist objectives in research. Consequently, the work covers the epistemological gap in methodology within local Women's Studies; and enriches international research by highlighting the Sri Lankan situation through being generalisable to wider theoretical objectives. Women-relatedness of research is posited as a paradigmatic shift in knowledge-making within which research activism takes place. The umbrella concept and materiality of WR research methodology is case studied through constituent case studies of method, ontology, epistemology, theory, and politics I ethics. This involves conceptualising I engaging with the particularities of Sri Lankan ontological politics; an epistemology of gender that originates from a sense of being I doing; the method of literature reviewing as an epistemic project; theory on methodology as epistemology and feminisms as a form of ethical politics. Maithree Wickramasinghe- Making Meaning of Meaning-Making 2 Sri Lankan women's studies and discourse compose a somewhat abstract ontology for my research purpose, while WR research methodology is captured I constructed in research through the examination of research texts and interviews. My own methodology is founded on the principle of knowledge as a process of both discovery and construction. Analysis of research is from multiple theoretical locations and methodological intersects of positivism and postrnodernism; as well as feminist standpoints, postcolonialism, and reflexivity. The ultimate aim of the study is not only conceptual unity, but also, conceptual contestation.
Reflexivity: Theorising the Self in Qualitative Research
(University of Kelaniya, 2007) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
This paper argues for the importance of considering I constructing the self in the research process as a methodological issue. The objective of the paper is to discuss the researcher's subjectivity (despite its instability) as one of the key factors that inevitably contributes to and compromises the researcher's choices and the directions of a research study. To do so I will take the example of my PhD research study on feminist research methodology in Sri Lanka and focus on my own subjective positioning, interests and motivations for focusing on this particular topic. I will then go on to consider the ontological I epistemological understandings, theoretical influences and methodological concerns that underpinned the progress of my work. . 16 By consciously highlighting the operation of the researcher's self within researching, this paper will serve to challenge the value attributed to the Positivist knowledge paradigm, the criterion of objectivity and the use of scientific methods. It will underscore the significance of utili sing reflexivity as mechanism that can provide validity for qualitative research.
Representation in Politics: Women and Gender in the Sri Lankan Republic
(2012) Wickremasinghe, Maithree; Kodikara, Chulani
“Why bring in a women’s perspective”: the political and ethical dimensions of feminist research
(University of Kelaniya, 2008) Wickremasinghe, Maithree
Women – a new paradigm in knowledge production
(University of Kelaniya, 2009) Wickremasinghe, Maithree