Positionality, subjectivity, and race in transnational and transcultural geographical research

Abstract

This article investigates the complexities of negotiating subject positions in transnational and transcultural research by focusing on the gendering of race and racialization. As more people claim to be of mixed 'racial' descent and Western researchers grow more diverse, it is increasingly important that this diversity is reflected within geographical research; however, much of the existing research on subjectivity and its role in the research process has focused either on 'white' researchers in Global South contexts or on researchers working in their 'home' country or community. Less visible are accounts from those who challenge conceptions of 'white' Western researcher or whose racial identity can be conceived as hybrid. Moreover, there is a tendency to conceptualize race/racialization and their effects on subjectivity and positionality in relatively narrow terms. This article draws attention to the changing subjectivities of a racialized gendered body as it moves into different contexts. I examine how conceptualizations of race and discourses of racialization constitute researcher subjectivity, and how different understandings of 'race' mediate relationships between researcher and research participants (and others). To understand the spatial (re)configurations of (race) subjectivities and how this affects researcher positionality, I offer an autoethnography of a bi/multiracial Western woman of New Zealand Māori/Pākehā descent interpellated as 'insufficient Other' in her home context of Aotearoa New Zealand, then reconstituted as white and 'sufficient Self' in the Philippines by her research participants and Filipino 'family' and friends.

Kitchen table reflexivity: negotiating positionality through everyday talk

“…Complex and nuanced engagements with positionality are most often critically examined through self-reflexive processes. While self-reflexivity can take multiple forms, it analyzes the influence of social position and the politics of identity on the interactions between researcher and research participants and the role of power and identity in everyday lives and research (Dowling 2005;England 1994;Fisher 2014;McDowell 1992;Nagar 1997;Oberhauser 1997;Rose 1997). By employing kitchen table reflexivity, we argue for an in-depth engagement with positionality through formal and informal conversations with other researchers, which develops a richer and more nuanced engagement with positionality that in turn enriches the research processes.…”

“…This literature provides a framework to explain why our unintentional choice of the kitchen table has theoretical importance, contextualizing it within a complex racialized, gendered, and classed history (Bennett 2006;Davis 1999;Schenone 2003;Shange 1998;Smith 1989;Weems 1990). Furthermore, literatures on positionality, self-reflexivity, and insider/outsider status in qualitative research highlight how kitchen table reflexivity complicates engagements with our identities and addresses critiques of self-reflexivity (Emirbayer and Desmond 2012;England 1994;Falconer Al-Hindi and Kawabata 2002;Fisher 2014;Kobayashi 2003;Rose 1997). We utilize field notes and collective memories to tell our stories of a Black and African-American female researcher who investigates racial identity formation and spatial practices of Black religious food programs and a white female researcher who investigates identity, storytelling, and landscapes with Black environmental justice activists.…”

Social geography I: Intersectionality

“…A final example is Fisher (2015), who argues that the focus on the intersections of gender and race in geography has tended to conceptualize race and processes of racialization in relatively narrow terms. Based on her negotiations of her positionality as a student conducting fieldwork in the Philippines whilst being from New Zealand and studying in Australia and of mixed ethnicity (Maori and Pakeha), she uses an autoethnographic approach to explore how readings of her racialized body changed in different contexts.…”

Indigenous Geographies: Research as Reconciliation

“…While reflexive methods are increasingly employed within Indigenous geographies as means to explore the challenges associated with doing Indigenous research, such as insider and outside standpoints or navigating institutional constraints, (see for example de Leeuw, Cameron, & Greenwood, 2012;Fisher, 2015;Hodge & Lester, 2006), few have employed them to share their experiences of research as a potential pathway to reconciliation.…”