Concepts · Across science and technology
Situated knowledge
Source-checked draft · v0.2 · 2026-09-24
Prepared with AI assistance; no scholarly reviewer assigned.
For Haraway, situated knowledge connects objectivity with embodied, partial perspectives and responsibility for their limits.
Source: Haraway, Donna · pp. 581–585, discussion of vision, embodiment, and partial perspective
Supporting passage (paraphrased): Locates feminist objectivity in embodied and accountable perspectives rather than a view outside all locations.
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The core idea
Haraway connects seeing and knowing with a position in the world. Objectivity requires accountability for that position, rather than pretending to see from nowhere.
Source: Haraway, Donna · pp. 581–585, discussion of vision, embodiment, and partial perspective
Supporting passage (paraphrased): Locates feminist objectivity in embodied and accountable perspectives rather than a view outside all locations.
Access copy or institutional record →Source paraphrase
Partiality and accountability
Haraway rejects both a totalizing viewpoint and a relativism that treats all positions as equivalent. Acknowledging location is part of critical inquiry, not a substitute for it.
Source: Haraway, Donna · pp. 583–585
Supporting passage (paraphrased): Rejects relativism and totalization and requires more than simply acknowledging partiality.
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A consequential distinction
Haraway’s argument does not give any social position automatic access to truth. Her discussion treats critical positioning and connections between perspectives as demanding work.
Source: Haraway, Donna · pp. 583–586
Supporting passage (paraphrased): Discusses subjugated standpoints, critical positioning, and accountable partiality.
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Editorial perspective
The contrast between situated objectivity and relativism is central to this reading. Applications to particular research methods need their own empirical evidence.
Invented illustration
Illustrative example
A heat map based only on outdoor daytime sensors may miss conditions inside homes at night. This imagined example highlights how measurement choices limit what a perspective reveals.
Start reading
Haraway, Donna. “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective.” Feminist Studies 14(3), 1988, 575–599.pp. 581–586
Read the discussion of vision and objectivity in the original essay, keeping its feminist argument in view.
Edition & revision record
- v0.2 · 2026-09-24: Added claim citations, source locations, reading levels, and explicit editorial labels; removed exercises.
Suggested citation: “situated knowledge,” STS Knowledge Guide, AI-assisted draft, v0.2, 2026-09-24.
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