From our post qualitative kitchen: a Langar meal of knowledge

Abstract

Ways of knowing in social sciences and educational research are sculpted by normative knowing of ways that are rooted in prescriptive histories of positivist and qualitative traditions. In this paper, by subscribing to what St. Pierre and Lather initiated as the “postqualitative movement”, we turn from tradition to re-search research praxis and nominate “Langar” (a Sikh cultural practice of congregational cooking and consumption) as an alternative site of knowledge creation and postqualitative resistance. We approximate Langar to establish a “research commune” in which we prepare a metaphorical meal of knowledge and argue that with its salient openness, enriching philosophy and non-hierarchical texture, Langar can inform educational research and bring into its fold some intriguing philosophical and processual dimensions that originate from varied cultural contexts. This can, herald into educational research, a newness that can potentially re-negotiate boundaries, re-order research norms and interrupt hierarchies to foster creative ways of knowing.

Keywords:

• Postqualitative
• educational research
• Langar
• resistance
• Sikh history

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kanwarjeet Singh

Kanwarjeet Singh is a doctoral student in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. His research foci are postqualitative, methodological innovations, diaspora, and cultural equity. As a Sikh-Australian and a diasporic re-settler, he is exposed to varied cultural contexts and, in that view, he is keen to explore postqualitative possibilities.

Jane Southcott

Jane Southcott is a Professor in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. She has keen interest in diasporic cultures, methodological newness, social justice, and equity. Jane is an autoethnographic writer, a phenomenologist and a revisionist historian who traverses spaces of education, culture, and society and is now exploring postqualitative curiosities.

Damien Lyons

Dr. Damien Lyons is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education, Monash University. His research foci are literacy teaching and learning, diaspora, and sociology of education. Damien is a hermeneutic phenomenologist, an autoethnographer and narrative inquirer now venturing into postqualitative territory.