Part of the action, or ‘going native’? Learning to cope with the ‘politics of integration’

Abstract

Despite continuing work within feminist research on issues of political commitment and critical forms of engagement, and an increasing desire within geography to effect social change through our privileged positions as academics, active collaboration with groups involved in social action continues to be fraught with ambiguity and anxiety. /n this paper, I consider the potential role of the 'researcher as activist' through documentation of my interaction and repositioning of identities while becoming involved in credit union development in Kingston upon Hull. I hope to illustrate how the maintenance of a critical, multi-positioned (and repositioned) identity can be seen as a beneficial, reflexive learning experience for researchers operating within ethnography, and for the research itself.

Reflexive Resilience and Community Supported Agriculture: The Case that Emerged from a Place

“…Moreover, this research, in the style of backyard ethnography (Heley, 2011), gives extremely deep access to very rich, very embedded sources of insider data. So this research, following Fuller (1999), was not so much about 'going native' as about being aware of the issues and benefits of being as 'native' as any other newcomer in a CSA established by a community of newcomers. As Campbell et al(2013)stated, "practitioners need to be active partners in advancing and generating new knowledge.…”

“…The positionality of the self-reflexive researching subject (Fuller, 1999) is key to the successful implementation of this approach. This involves consciously working on both geographic and cultural distance; being fully aware of the vital inevitability of closeness rather than detachment as inherent in ethnographically understanding a culture; all the while being critically self-aware, in an ongoing fashion, of engaging in the practice of research.…”

The possibilities and perils of critical performativity: Learning from four case studies

“…Urban anthropology (Lyon-Callo, 2004;Lyon-Callo & Hyatt, 2003) and radical and feminist geography have a long tradition of engaged work, including with squats, homeless shelters, and women's groups Fuller, 1999;Gibson-Graham, 2006a, 2006bKindon, Pain, & Kesby, 2007). For instance Urban Anthropologist Lyon-Callo worked as an assistant director in homeless shelter, using his critical insights to challenge and seek to transform his practice and those around him (Lyon-Callo, 2004).…”

“…Such an approach, though, is also complex. They also recognise the messy realities of engagement, the difficulties that it produces and the dangers of 'going native' (Fuller, 1999). They suggest that the research should be attentive to power-relations, the emotional dimension of relationships and the rawness and energy of being involved in social change (Chatterton, et al, 2007).…”

Dancing with the devil? Participatory action research with police in South Africa

“…It requires an active effort from both police and academic researchers to remove the 'artificial boundaries between researcher, activist, teacher and person'. 13 How researchers actually do participatory action research (PAR) varies. The 'doing' can include using ethnographic methods.…”