Relationality as Relationalities and a Model of Human (and Other) Justice Through Qualitative Inquiry

Abstract

Based on the most recent meeting of the International Congress of Qualitative Inquiry (2023), it is clear that using theories of relationality to situate our work is on the rise. Given this growing interest in relationality, I attempt to describe several philosophical approaches to relationality, explain how relationality is not simply a theory but an ontic stance, and consider relational theory’s implications for social justice. Regardless of the varieties of relationality that exist (be they ancient, current, Eastern, or Indigenous), research adopting a relational stance is antithetical to the world in which we find ourselves today: in brief, well-populated with (substantialist) sentiments that would seek to divide and isolate individuals, rather than show our inherent connectivity. Qualitative work is in a position to tease out the nuanced, multifaceted, and shared relationships that, by relationality’s standards, are our ontic foundations. I close with the idea that qualitative work may be pedagogical in its ability to spread these sentiments not only to fellow researchers, but to participants in this work as well.