Field studies of primate social behavior: A litmus test for feminist science

The idea of practicing feminist science emanated from feminist science studies and feminist critiques of science, which have been a notable area of feminist scholarship for the past thirty years. Unlike feminist research and writing in the social sciences that have flourished, a feminist style of work by researchers in the natural sciences is rarely recognized and not well defined. Field studies of primate social behavior have been associated with feminist principles for a variety of reasons that are discussed in detail in this thesis, and, therefore, are an excellent place to look for the practice of feminist science. Are there published field studies of primate social behavior that can be identified as the practice of feminist science? In order to answer this question, I have: (1) discussed fundamental concepts in feminist science, (2) explained my reasons for selecting field studies of primate social behavior as a litmus test for feminist science, (3) drawn distinctions between ideas in science that fit comfortably with feminist thought, feminist influence in science, and the practice of feminist science, (4) selected criteria for identifying the practice of feminist science, and (5) analyzed five published field studies of primate social behavior to determine whether or not they demonstrate the practice of feminist science. Five books reporting the findings of field studies of primate social behavior are examined: Almost Human: A Journey into the World of Baboons by Shirley C. Strum, Sex & Friendship in Baboons by Barbara B. Smuts, Strategies of Sex and Survival in Hamadryas Baboons: Through a Female Lens, by Larissa Swedell, In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall, and The Complete Capuchin: The Biology of the Genus Cebus by Dorothy M. Fragaszy, Elisabetta Visalberghi, and Linda M. Fedigan. Utilizing criteria associated with the highly developed feminist scholarship in the social sciences, which deploy the concepts of situated knowledge and standpoint theory, Almost Human by Strum demonstrates the practice of feminist science.