Annotation: Donna Haraway: Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and The Privilege of Partial Perspective
In “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and The Privilege of Partial Perspective,” Donna Haraway goes into detail on the idea of Situated Knowledges being something that was originally useful in perpetuating dominating powers, but has now been able to be extended to those more marginalized as a tool for thinking. Originally, “no insider’s perspective is privileged, because all drawings of inside-outside boundaries in knowledge are theorized as power moves, not moves toward truth (pg. 346) Here Haraway is saying that the subjugated who see with dual vision are incapable of experiencing privilege because power is always moving in a way that moves further away from the truth. To seek out the truth Haraway argues that we must let goal of the duel mindset found within binary thought as it is “hard to climb when you are holding both ends of a pole” because we cannot fight a fight from both sides. She brings into fruition the idea of “vision” as it can “be good for avoiding binary opposition” (347). In the modern world, Vision according to Haraway has been reduced to “unregulated gluttony” as we continue to yearn to see more and more with the advancement of technology (348). Haraway wishes to return to our “organic” eye as the are “active perceptual systems, building on translations and specific ways of seeing” that help to create our perception of life (348). After we come to understand that our vision is only “partial” we can create a “collective subject position that promises a vision of the means of ongoing finite embodiment” (350). If vision is something that is subjective and objective, and can be used to create collectivity through combining individuals' perceptions as partial forms of knowledge, when put together are the knowledge and visions still partial or whole? How do we use them in knowledge expression? Furthermore, if one has the ability to see the world through a metaphorical lens, does this make their view more partial?