Constructing (Im)Perfect Geographical Knowledge: Negotiating Positionality in Comparative Field Sites

Abstract

Positionality has long been at the center of debate on qualitative research and ethnographic field work within and beyond geography. Highly reflective accounts of positionality usually examine the way a researcher’s origins, gender, sexuality, age, religion, race, dis/ability and the intersections of these different aspects influence research encounters, data generated, and narratives produced. In this article, I contribute to this growing debate on positionality by (1) reflecting on the different ways positionality manifests in comparative studies and their implications on the research and knowledge production; and (2) reflecting on how I negotiated my positionality as a researcher originating from the Global South (South Asia), conducting research in two different countries in the South, one my home country, and the other a neighboring country. Both these aspects have received scant attention in the existing works on research methods and comparative studies. The article draws on my doctoral field work conducted in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka using qualitative research methods. This article, in part, is also based on my autobiographical accounts, where I share the experience of my journey from industry to academia.

长期以来, 无论是在地理学还是其它学科, 位置性一直都处于定性研究和民族志实地考察的争论中心。对位置性的高度反思式论述, 通常会探讨研究者的出身、性别、年龄、宗教、种族、能力及其相互作用如何影响了研究经历、数据和叙事。本文旨在为日益激烈的位置性争论做出贡献：(1)反思了位置性在比较研究中的不同表现方式及其对研究和知识生产的影响, (2)作为一名来自发展中国家(南亚地区)的研究人员, 我在两个发展中国家开展研究(一个是我的祖国, 另一个是邻国), 本文反思了我如何探究我的位置性。现有研究方法和比较研究都很少重视这两个方面。本文基于我在孟加拉国和斯里兰卡采用定性研究方法开展的博士论文实地考察, 也部分基于我从工业界转到学术界的经历的自述。

Desde hace mucho, el concepto de posicionalidad ha estado en el centro del debate sobre la investigación cualitativa y del trabajo de campo etnográfico, dentro y fuera de la geografía. Los relatos altamente reflexivos acerca de la posicionalidad usualmente examinan el modo como los orígenes, el género, la sexualidad, la edad, la religión, la raza, la discapacidad y las intersecciones de todos estos influyen en los encuentros de investigación, los datos generados y las narrativas producidas. En este artículo, contribuyo a este debate en desarrollo sobre la posicionalidad, (1) reflexionando sobre las diferentes formas como la posicionalidad se manifiesta en los estudios comparativos y sus implicaciones en investigación y producción de conocimiento; y (2) reflexionando sobre cómo yo negocié mi posicionalidad como investigadora originaria del Sur Global (Asia del Sur) que lleva a cabo investigaciones en dos escenarios nacionales diferentes en esta región del mundo, uno mi país de origen, y el otro, un país vecino.

Key Words:

• comparative research
• ethnography
• failure
• positionality
• qualitative methods

关键词：:

• 比较研究
• 民族志
• 失败
• 位置性
• 定性方法。

Palabras clave::

• etnografía
• fracaso
• investigación comparativa
• métodos cualitativos
• posicionalidad

Acknowledgments

This article is based on my PhD thesis carried out under the Research Scholarship of the National University of Singapore with the full endorsement of the Institutional Review Board (Approval Number: NUS-IRB Ref No: S-18-252E). I thank my research participants in both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka for their valuable time. I am grateful to Mahpara Kaizer and Iffat Jahan Antara for providing translation assistance in Bangladesh. I am indebted to my thesis advisors Neil Coe of the University of Sydney and Woon Chih Yuan of the National University of Singapore, who shaped the researcher in me and helped me navigate complex and at times frustrating terrains of the research process, both in and out of the field. I thank Heejun Chang and three anonymous reviewers for their invaluable feedback. Any errors remain my own.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a National University of Singapore Research Scholarship and a Graduate Research Grant.

Notes on contributors

Shyamain Wickramasingha

SHYAMAIN WICKRAMASINGHA is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School, Handelshøjskolen, Dalgas Have 15, 2000 Frederiksberg, Denmark. E-mail: [email protected]. She carries out comparative research on the South Asian apparel industry with a focus on Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Her work is mainly centered on the political economy of global production networks, labor regimes, and climate change and value chain transition.