Seeking a Research Method to Study Women Who Have Recovered from Trauma and Addiction that Combines Feminist Theory, Somatic Theory, Alternative Forms of Representation, and Social Justice

Abstract

The following paper attempts to find an approach to research that will best suit women who have recovered from addictions and trauma and consider themselves resilient. This approach will need to combine contemporary feminist theory, somatic theory, and alternative forms of representation/interpretation. The paper will begin by exploring the connection between postmodern feminist theory and somatic theory and what they both have to say about how we embody social conditions of gender through non-verbal interactions. Research will then be examined that captures the non-verbal aspects of being in the world and how this intersects with the postmodern turn. Finally, in combining postmodernism, embodiment, and alternative forms of representation, cutting edge research will be explored that takes embodiment to the next level: social action.