Rethinking representation: negotiating positionality, power and space in the field

Abstract

The article addresses the question of representation by highlighting some of the methodological challenges I encountered in the field during a study on women's experiences of empowerment and change in northern Pakistan. I trace positionality of a researcher within the wider context of reflexivity, which is important for feminist and other research on gender. I argue that engaging with my own identity during the fieldwork and the writing stages allowed me to gain an in-depth understanding of the intimacies of the participants' worlds and assisted me in drawing an intricate interpretation of empowerment from their narratives in their unique social situation. It was also useful to maintain balance between the responsibilities associated with being a researcher and a member of the community returning home. Through the comparison of my life history with the women informants, I hope to present autoethnographic presence as an alternative way of understanding representation. The process defines positionality as a significant component of the trajectory of contemporary feminist experience and its description.

Riding a rollercoaster in a hurricane – researching my own chronic illness

“…As I move into the writing up phase of this research, I will remain attuned to my changing positionality and the need for continued reflexivity. The necessity for such does not diminish at this stage, it remains essential to the living, evolving process of respectfully portraying the research findings and discussion (Ali, 2015). Conducting such research whilst living with a chronic illness is difficult and being forewarned is being forearmed.…”

Hierarchy and inequality in research: Navigating the challenges of research in Ghana

“…In either research context, the problem is rooted in the uncritical acceptance of prescriptive systems that do not account for the lived realities and local context of research subjects, or even the exigencies of the researcher’s own discipline. In the surveyed literature, warnings abound concerning the following: failing to include ‘geographically sensitive’ approaches to research and the problem of imposing medical or scientific norms on the social sciences (Zhang); imposing categories of difference and vulnerability on the community being studied ( Gustafson and Brunger, 2014 ); ignoring social and cultural differences that exist across the globe when developing guidelines ( Ali, 2015 ; Godard et al, 2014 ); and assuming that established categories of difference in one region – such as gender – are invariably applicable in another region ( Carstensen-Egwuom, 2014 ).…”

Insider/Outsider Issues for Development Researchers from the Global South

“…Returning home for fieldwork evokes feelings of belonging and connectedness, especially for researchers from developing countries who have affiliations with Western universities (Ite ; Mandiyanike ; Yakushko et al ). This sense of belonging and community serves as social capital to access hard‐to‐reach communities and government documents or facilitate elite interviews in organizations (Ali ; Ite ; Oriola and Haggerty ; Tembo ). To be an insider, defined as being based on access (Merton ), local and intimate knowledge of the research community (Labaree ) and membership to the research community (Kanuha ), is therefore an attractive epistemological position for researchers from developing countries.…”