If the shoe fits: Authenticity, authority and agency feminist diasporic research
Introduction
The subject of ethnographic fieldwork has for some time now been under critical review by scholars in anthropology, sociology and geography (to name just a few disciplines), and continues to provide opportunities for discussion and academic scholarship. One of the principal areas discussed across the various disciplines is that of power relations between researchers and participants. Within this body of literature, feminist researchers have made a significant contribution, examining power as it pertains to research on, with, and by women and feminists (Bell et al., 1993, Di Leonardo, 1991, Fonow and Cook, 1991, Gluck and Patai, 1991, Golde, 1970, Personal Narratives Group, 1989, Reinharz, 1992, Roberts, 1990, Stanley and Wise, 1983, Wolf, 1996). Much of this writing has explored the shifting nature of power within the research relationship and how it is intimately tied to different positionalities and identities, such as gender, but also including class, sexuality and ‘race’ (Abu-Lughod, 1990, Acker et al., 1991, Kondo, 1986, Mies, 1991, Patai, 1991, Reinharz, 1992, Shostack, 1989, Stacey, 1991, Stanley and Wise, 1983).
But what dominant assumptions lie behind these particular conceptualisations of power, research and researchers? In the feminist methodological accounts, the researcher often appears as an all-powerful and ‘authoritative’ agent. Many of the accounts encourage scholars to ‘reflect on his or her own privilege’ based on an assumption that ‘most faculty come from middle- or upper-middle-class backgrounds and are still predominantly White’ (Kezar, 2003: 405–6). But which feminists are able to claim this privilege in research and under what conditions? This article addresses the difficulties that diasporic1 researchers, in particular, have in positioning themselves as ‘authentic’, authoritative agents in the field, especially when they find it difficult to make claims to ‘authentic’ places of ‘origin’ and ‘pure’ ethnic and racial identities (Henry, 2003). In this article, I draw on examples from my own research experiences as an Indo-Canadian woman conducting fieldwork in India. While white, middle-class researchers face many dilemmas of power in the field, diasporic researchers marginality within their ‘home’, may mean that they cannot necessarily inhabit positions of power comfortably or easily at home or in the field (Henry, 2003, Ladino, 2002, Sherif, 2001, Thapar-Björkert and Henry, 2004). I suggest that models of researchers as all-powerful are highly problematic in ethnographic border crossings and in the context of cultural, ethnic and racial marginalisation of diasporics in postcolonial settings. This is especially important when reflecting on methodological and fieldwork training for new and junior researchers.
In the first part of this article, I examine some of the key issues raised in the literature on methodology in regard to power, positionality and identity. Then, I document my methodological research training and preparation, demonstrating how my fieldwork ‘habitus’ was formed and shaped through a process of dialogue and, then, ‘on-the-ground’ experience (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992, Clifford, 1997). Additionally, I complicate particular conceptualisations of the researcher by examining issues of authenticity, authority and agency as they were contested and formed in the field. Finally, I suggest that the shoes of other researchers do not always fit diasporics appropriately and that methodological training needs to incorporate models of researchers which are inclusive and flexible.
Section snippets
Methodological literature
Returning the gaze in qualitative methodology has often meant the examination of the ethnographic ‘self’ in the design and implementation of research projects (Caplan, 1993, Clifford, 1986, Coffey, 1999, Narayan, 1993). Introspection by researchers has often led to a focus on differences between researchers and participants and thus one of the key issues frequently discussed within the feminist literature is a concern with the power relations between research participants and researcher; in
Training and preparation
‘Pedagogy that includes an engagement with theory, fieldwork methodology, and ethics has the potential to foster the production of academic knowledge that is aware of and reflexive about its own assumptions, questions, and categories and therefore more responsible for its biases’ (Sundberg, 2003: 187).
My formal training as a fieldworker did not begin until I studied for a Master's degree in Women's Studies in the UK. I decided to study in the UK because it was one of the closest countries to
Authenticity
Although, theoretically, I would argue that my supervisors' identities were not fixed or stable as white, English, middle-class women, in our conversations their ethnic identity was often taken for granted as unitary, coherent and privileged. Neither of them had conveyed to me any sense of identity ‘crisis’ or juggling multiple identities in relation to representing themselves on a day-to-day basis or in their experiences of travelling and working in India. In their accounts, they had clearly
Authority
‘My role as a student researcher, my age, and my assumed class affiliation may have been taken as sources of potential domination. However my racialised and gender ascriptions suggested the opposite. That is, in this instance, the interviewees and myself were inscribed within multi-faceted power relations which had structural dominance and structural subordination in play on both sides’ (Bhavnani, 1993, 101).
Bhavnani's account demonstrates that the researcher/researched relationship is not only
Agency
Without authority and authenticity it is difficult to occupy a position within which to exercise agency. Agency stems from autonomy and provides a researcher with the ability to take action, but is contingent upon the specificities of the field and ‘home’. It is contingent on both the social structures and locations within which the researcher is embedded. My day-to-day experiences during fieldwork demonstrated that agency is something that cannot be taken for granted by researchers. Because I
Conclusion
In this article, I have tried to illustrate how complicated power relations in the field can be for non-traditional researchers through exploring issues of authenticity, authority and agency. These three concepts, in particular, demonstrate that power is not uniform in fieldwork practice, nor is it held solely by researchers. Without the appearance of ‘authenticity’, diasporic researchers face a different set of dilemmas in conducting research especially when using ethnographic techniques. If
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and Suruchi Thapar-Björkert, Joanna Liddle, Paul Higate, Tom Slater, Cathie Riessman, Vieda Skultans, Jane Speedy and Jonathan Reinarz for the valuable comments and feedback on this paper.
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