Kamala Visweswaran
Fictions of Feminist Ethnography
discusses through a series of essays the research methodology done in
communities of women and cultures that the researcher identifies with. The writer
both supports traditional concepts of Western research and is critical of
it. Like Smiths book Visweswaran does
not give a clear cut answer to feminist ethnography’s, she does however have
theories around the failure of feminist ethnography’s, as well as
incorrect/things not to do while conducting them. Viswaran also talks about the importance of
researchers being accountable for their work.
For me, one of the
most interesting topics in Visweswaran’s work is when she describes the
bi-cultural researcher. She shares her
own experience coming from communities that she has studied, but also having
another cultural identity that causes distance from the other culture because
of the power/privileged gained. Perhaps
what struck me the most from this portion of the reading was the discussion
about being held accountable by both the academy and the communities in which
the research is being done.
Once again I was
surprised by the complexity of research.
Up until this reading my thought on research was that it was done purely
for the benefit and purpose of the academy.
Although at this time it is still difficult for me to understand how
research as is can benefit the community of people that are being researched, I
found it refreshing to read a piece of work that stressed the importance of
research being accessible to both the researcher and the researched. I also
find myself wondering how often this is truly being done.
Overall I found
value in this work because it appeared that Visweswran believed at times the
people who live within the communities being research can know more then the
“experts” who are conducting the research.
I also can acknowledge that this might not always be the case. With the
expectation of researches being held accountable for their work, as well as
being able to create research that both communities and the academy can utilize
may eliminate research that causes harm within communities.
Discussions Questions
·
Visweswran discusses being able to
keep the different aspects of her identity separate when conducting research,
how is this possible? Is this something that can be learned over time? How are researchers able to truly navigate
research when they are so closely connected to it?
·
When closely connected to and trained
in Western research is it ever truly possible to be able to translate the
research that you have conducted so the communities who are being researched
can understand?
No comments:
Post a Comment