40 Years of Qualitative Feminist Interviewing: Conceptual Moments and Cultivating Ecosystems of Care

Abstract

This article explores the evolving concept of feminist interviewing and its contemporary use, exploring key conceptual moments from the past 40 years of feminist interviewing, and concluding with current implications for feminist researchers interested in using qualitative interviews in social science research. Faced with multiple possibilities for approaching feminist interviewing, this article argues for the importance of cultivating an ecosystem of care, a framework for inviting stories rather than coercively courting headlines. Considering various approaches to feminist methodology and interviewing, this article suggests using the theoretical framing of “feminism for the 99%” to guide the use of feminist interviewing in our current moment to cultivate feminist ecosystems of care and avoid dominating practices in research.