ABSTRACT
Research into the faith and spirituality of women explores and interprets women’s experience and spiritual practice and brings them into the framework of current theological discourse. The experiences and stories which feminist theological research investigates are often deeply personal; they frequently involve strong emotions and intimate relationships, which are not easily shared, and which many women would prefer to keep private. Yet if feminist research is to add to the store of knowledge, and if, as many of us hope, it is undertaken with the hope of making some kind of difference to women’s lives, then such private experiences need to be brought into the public sphere.1 In their book on ethical issues involved in feminist research, Rosalind Edwards and Jane Ribbens explore the ways in which such research often explores areas which have previously been invisible and marginalized, bringing them into academic and public discourse in a way which could easily become intrusive or exploitative: are we extending the dominance of publicly based knowledge and expertise, and colluding into its intrusion into every nook and cranny of social life?2
