Dorothy E. Smith was a Canadian sociologist who developed feminist standpoint theory and the method of inquiry known as institutional ethnography. Beginning from women's everyday experience as a standpoint from which to critique conventional sociology, she argued in works such as The Everyday World as Problematic (1987) that mainstream sociological method had reproduced a distinctively male, managerial view of the social world, and she proposed institutional ethnography as a way to trace how the concrete, everyday activities of individuals are coordinated by the abstract, textually mediated relations of larger institutions. Her work became a foundational contribution to feminist sociology and to the sociology of knowledge.
Facts
Birth DateSourced to the subject's own account Birth YearSourced to the subject's own account Death DateSourced to the subject's own account Death YearSourced to the subject's own account BirthplaceSourced to the subject's own accountNorthallerton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England 1 Death PlaceSourced to the subject's own account Nationality / CultureSourced to the subject's own account Defining ContributionSourced to the subject's own accountFounded the sociological sub-disciplines of feminist standpoint theory and institutional ethnography. 1 Notable WorkSourced to the subject's own accountThe Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology 1 Sources
1. Dorothy E. Smith (Wikipedia)
Wikipedialead sentence, birth date clause
Dorothy Edith Smith (née Place; 6 July 1926-3 June 2022) was a British-born Canadian ethnographer, feminist studies scholar, sociologist, and writer with research interests in a variety of disciplines.
lead sentence, birth year figure
Dorothy Edith Smith (née Place; 6 July 1926-3 June 2022) was a British-born Canadian ethnographer, feminist studies scholar, sociologist, and writer with research interests in a variety of disciplines.
lead sentence, death date clause
Dorothy Edith Smith (née Place; 6 July 1926-3 June 2022) was a British-born Canadian ethnographer, feminist studies scholar, sociologist, and writer with research interests in a variety of disciplines.
lead sentence, death year figure
Dorothy Edith Smith (née Place; 6 July 1926-3 June 2022) was a British-born Canadian ethnographer, feminist studies scholar, sociologist, and writer with research interests in a variety of disciplines.
Biography section, birthplace sentence
Smith was born on 6 July 1926 in Northallerton, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, to Dorothy F. Place and Tom Place, who had her and three sons.
Personal life section, death sentence
Smith died of complications due to a fall at her home in Vancouver on 3 June 2022, at the age of 95.
lead sentence, nationality descriptor
Dorothy Edith Smith (née Place; 6 July 1926-3 June 2022) was a British-born Canadian ethnographer, feminist studies scholar, sociologist, and writer with research interests in a variety of disciplines.
Everyday World as Problematic section, opening sentence, heading dated 1987
Smith wrote Everyday World as a Problematic: A Feminist Sociology.
lead paragraph, closing sentence
She founded the sociological sub-disciplines of feminist standpoint theory and institutional ethnography.
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