The Feminist Standpoint and the Trouble with “Informal Learning”: A Way Forward for Marxist-Feminist Educational Research

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is (1) to argue for an educational research method that is both dialectical materialist and feminist; (2) to critique the way the current notion of informal learning both individualizes and depoliticizes the real lives and activities of learners; and (3) to argue that radical educators must integrate an understanding of oppression, exploitation, and political consciousness into our definitions of learning and education. I will make my arguments by presenting two case studies of informal learning. The first involves Kurdish women in diaspora. The second involves disability rights activists. Both case studies are located in the Greater Toronto Area (Canada).