‘Now that I know what you’re about’: black feminist reflections on power in the research relationship

TY - JOUR

T1 - ‘Now that I know what you’re about’

T2 - black feminist reflections on power in the research relationship

AU - Hamilton, Patricia

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2019.

PY - 2020/10/1

Y1 - 2020/10/1

N2 - Feminists have identified reflexivity as a particularly incisive tool for navigating shifting power dynamics, using it to draw attention to how a researcher’s positionality informs every aspect of the research process, from development of the research question to interactions with research participants. In this article, I describe my reflections as a black feminist researcher conducting research with black women. I examine the unexpected ways in which power can manifest during the research process, complicating the theoretical advice offered by institutional ethics board and feminist methodology textbooks. Intersectionality serves as a useful tool to tease out these dilemmas and though it cannot preempt or solve all challenges, it provides reflexive space for exploring such dilemmas and a tool for navigating power in the research process.

AB - Feminists have identified reflexivity as a particularly incisive tool for navigating shifting power dynamics, using it to draw attention to how a researcher’s positionality informs every aspect of the research process, from development of the research question to interactions with research participants. In this article, I describe my reflections as a black feminist researcher conducting research with black women. I examine the unexpected ways in which power can manifest during the research process, complicating the theoretical advice offered by institutional ethics board and feminist methodology textbooks. Intersectionality serves as a useful tool to tease out these dilemmas and though it cannot preempt or solve all challenges, it provides reflexive space for exploring such dilemmas and a tool for navigating power in the research process.

KW - attachment parenting

KW - black motherhood

KW - feminist research

KW - Intersectionality

KW - power

KW - reflexivity

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85077198830&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1177/1468794119891583

DO - 10.1177/1468794119891583

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85077198830

SN - 1468-7941

VL - 20

SP - 519

EP - 533

JO - Qualitative Research

JF - Qualitative Research

IS - 5

ER -