Module 5:

The Importance of Feminist

Theory, Hermeneutical
Phenomenology, Human
Environment Systems in
Examining Sociocultural,
Economic, and Political Conditions
After going through this module, you are expected to:
1. Analyze the basic concepts and principles of the major
Social Science ideas; and
2. Interpret personal and social experiences using relevant
approaches in the Social Sciences.
Feminist Theory

• Socio-cultural Conditions – Cultural feminism, the view that there is a "female nature"
or "female essence", attempts to revalue and redefine attributes ascribed to femaleness. It is
also used to describe theories that commend innate differences between women and men
(Wikipedia 2020).
• Economic Conditions – Feminist economists study both paid and unpaid care work.
They argue that traditional analysis of economics often ignores the value of household
unpaid work. Feminist economists have argued that unpaid domestic work is as valuable as
paid work, so measures of economic success should include unpaid work. (Blackwell
2018)
• Political Conditions – Feminist political theory is a diverse subfield of feminist theory
working towards three main goals: To understand and critique the role of gender in how
political theory is conventionally construed. To reframe and re-articulate conventional
political theory in light of feminist issues (especially gender equality).
Hermeneutical Phenomenology

• Socio-cultural Conditions – The interpretive paradigm and hermeneutic

phenomenological design are the most popular methods used in international cross-
cultural research in healthcare, nurse education and nursing practice. Their inherent
appeal is that they help researchers to explore experiences.
(Research Gate 2018)
• Economic Conditions – The methodology Austrian economists call praxeology
can be seen in turn as exemplary of a hermeneutical approach to economics. and that
this reform could be described as a restoration of the interpretive dimension to our
economic discourse. (Lavoie 2011)
• Political Conditions – The movement towards practice enables us to foreground
contemporary political practices that may have otherwise been reduced to mental
activity or to the macro-level processes of sociological analysis.
Human-Environment Systems

• Socio-cultural Conditions – Beliefs, attitudes, and values related to material

possessions and the relation of humanity and nature are often seen as lying at the
root of environmental degradation.
• Economic Conditions – Economic Growth for the first time in human history,
economic activity is so extensive that it produces environmental change at the
global level; the prospect of further economic growth arouses concern about the
quality of the global environment.
• Political Conditions – The global environment responds to the actions of
markets, governments, and the international political economy. Markets are always
imperfect, and the impact of economic activity on the environment depends on
which imperfect-market method of environmental management is being used.
Essay
Directions: On separate sheet of paper, site a socio-cultural, economic, or
political issue here in the Philippines and in your own opinion, how Feminist
Theory, Hermeneutical Phenomenology, and Human Environment Systems can
be applied on that issue.