Epistemological Divides and Moral Ambivalence in Global Politics: A Feminist Care Ethics Perspective

In response to the wrangling over epistemology and ethics in the study of International Relations (IR), many feminist IR scholars have turned to feminist standpoint epistemology. Drawing on feminist ethics and epistemology, this chapter offers a critique of feminist standpoint and argues that feminist care ethics offers an alternative, radical understanding of ethics in international politics through its attention not simply to ‘standpoint’ but to ‘positionality-in-relationship’. It is only through an epistemology that situates ourselves and our knowledge in relation to others that patterns of responsibility and accountability in global politics can be revealed and challenged. The final section of the chapter considers the relationship between morality and peace, offering a critique of dominant approaches to ethics in IR, and setting out an alternative care ethical perspective.