Beyond Making a Statement: An Intersectional Framing of the Power and Possibilities of Positioning

Abstract

In this essay, two women of Color researchers examine the intersections of race and disability and ask, “What is the power and purpose of positioning and positionality statements?” Informed by Black feminist theory, and drawing from the DisCrit tenets of intersectional oppressions, historicity, and whiteness and ability as property, the authors focus on researchers’ positioning in relation to how they engage and communicate knowledge about multiply marginalized people. Positionality statements, they argue, must be more than a listing of identities or a claim on authority through the naming of professional proximity to marginalized communities. Recognizing the increasing expectations for education scholars to articulate positionality in their scholarship, the authors offer a three-pronged intersectional framework, with provocations about the onto-epistemic, sociohistoric, and sociocultural elements of positioning. Education researchers interested in conveying how intersectional oppressions effect knowledge production will find this framework useful for crafting positionality statements that consider the multidimensional nature of power, oppression, and research in relation to their field, the literature, and multiply marginalized participants.

Methodologizing Transnationality: Relational Writing as Collective Inquiry

“…Our exploration suggests the method of writing as collaborative inquiry to reconsider the taken-for-granted notion of positionality. We challenged the idea of positionality as given or static (Boveda & Annamma, 2023). Rather, we constituted, constructed, and (re)searched our positionalities through a cyclical and connected writing process (Gale & Wyatt, 2017;Richardson & St Pierre, 2005), in which we became "writing comadres" (Anzaldúa, 2009).…”

Editorial Vision 2022–2025

“…Encouraging authors to provide epistemological and/or positionality statements to frame their approach to the data, literature, and research question(s). These statements make space for authors to connect inquiry with their social identities, professional experiences, and research expertise (Boveda & Annamma, 2023). While this practice is more common in qualitative work (Murphy et al, 2020), it has been less present in quantitative work where researchers assume an objective stance implying that “the numbers speak for themselves” (Gillborn et al, 2018, p. 170).…”

The Importance of Reflexivity in Program Development: A Case Study Involving Teaching Self-Defense to Middle School Girls in PE Class

“…My positionality moves beyond gender and experience and includes a reflection on power dynamics (Boveda & Annamma, 2023;Sybing, 2022). As an older person with over 30 years of martial art experience, I understood I may have more knowledge of statistics and strategies used to approach violence, however, these are girls in a society that is different than what I was raised.…”

“…In addition, my positionality impacted the production of knowledge (Boveda & Annamma, 2023). My dual role as a researcher and sociologist allows me to present a curriculum that is meaningful and observe how the girls were responding to the training and scenario framing.…”