What’s Love Got to Do with It? Feminist affect as epistemic resources

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the work of three key authors of feminist epistemology (Hilary Rose, Alison Jaggar and Evelyn Fox Keller) that look into the relationship between love, power and scientific knowledge. Based on this analysis, I put forward three theses: 1) that emotions are a devalued but nevertheless omnipresent dimension in the founding discourses of modern science; 2) that there is an affective repertoire linked to love, care and intimacy that can be valued as an epistemic resource; 3) that it is convenient to read this epistemic love as a feminist emotion instead of a feminine one if we want to promote a radical revision of what counts as scientific practice.