Multiple and Fluid Positionalities in Community Research With Socially Excluded Families: A Case for Reflexive Sociology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-26.3.4346Keywords:
positionality, reflexive sociology, community-based research, motherhood, social inclusionAbstract
Intersectionality and positionality are critical issues to consider in community research. Drawing on ten years of research in white, working-class communities in Northwestern England (WILSON, 2024a), I present a critical reflection on the temporal and structural dimensions of positionality through the application of reflexive sociology (BOURDIEU & WACQUANT, 1992). Focusing specifically on my maternal positionality and my journey from being a childless researcher into that of a mother, I attempt to articulate the complex task of negotiating the intersectionalities of class, gender and motherhood in community research in areas experiencing economic disadvantage. The centrality of relational practice is highlighted as key in overcoming potential conflicts or discrepancies in identities or positionalities, thus helping to build trust in the research context.
Downloads
References
Abetz, Jenna S. (2019). "I want to be both, but is that possible?": Communicating mother-scholar uncertainty during doctoral candidacy. Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education, 12(1), 70-87.
Adeagbo, Morolake J. (2021). An "outsider within": Considering positionality and reflexivity in research on HIV-positive adolescent mothers in South Africa. Qualitative Research, 21(2), 181-194.
Almack, Katherine (2008). Women parenting together: A reflexive account of the ways in which the researcher's identity and experiences may impact on the processes of doing research. Sociological Research Online, 13(1), 146-161.
Autret, Maya & van Eeden-Moorefield, Brad (2024). An autoethnographic dialogue with motherhood literature. The Qualitative Report, 29(1), 1-25, https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol29/iss1/1/ [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Baz, Sarah A. (2023). An intersectional reflexive account on positionality: Researching Pakistani and Bangladeshi Muslim lone motherhood. Qualitative Research, 24(3), 609-627, https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941231165893 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Berger, Roni (2015). Now I see it, now I don't: Researcher's position and reflexivity in qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 15(2), 219-234.
Bettez, Silvia C. (2015). Navigating the complexity of qualitative research in postmodern contexts: Assemblage, critical reflexivity, and communion as guides. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 28(8), 932-954.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1984 [1979]). A social critique of the judgement of taste. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre, (1986). The forms of capital. In John G. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education (pp.241-258). Westport, CN: Greenwood Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1989 [1986]). Social space and symbolic power. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 14-25.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1990). In other words: Essays toward a reflexive sociology. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1990 [1980]). Logic of practice, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press
Bourdieu, Pierre (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (1998 [1994]). Practical reason: On the theory of action. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (2000 [1997]). Pascalian meditations. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Bourdieu, Pierre (2003). Firing back: Against the tyranny of the market 2. New York, NY: New Press
Bourdieu, Pierre & Wacquant, Loic J.D. (1992). An invitation to reflexive sociology. Cambridge: Polity.
Cooper, Linda & Rogers, Chrissie (2015). Mothering and "insider" dilemmas: Feminist sociologists in the research process. Sociological Research Online, 20(2), 14-26.
Crean, Mags (2020). Minority scholars and insider-outsider researcher status: Challenges along a personal, professional and political continuum. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 19(1), Art. 17, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-19.1.2874 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Crossa, Veronica (2012). Relational positionality: Conceptualizing research, power, and the everyday politics of neoliberalization in Mexico City. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 11(1), 110-132, https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v11i1.921 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Crozier, Gillian; Reay, Dianne & Clayton, John (2019). Working the borderlands: Working-class students constructing hybrid identities and asserting their place in higher education. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 40(7), 922-937, https://doi.org/10.1080/01425692.2019.1623013 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Dew, Angela; McEntyre, Elizabeth & Vaughan, Priya (2019). Taking the research journey together: The insider and outsider experiences of Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal researchers. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 20(1), Art. 18, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-20.1.3156 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Dicks, Bella; Waddington, David & Critcher, Chas (2002). Redundant men and overburdened women: Local service providers and the construction of gender in ex-mining communities. In Jeanette Edwards, Jeff Hearn & Jennie Popay (Eds.), Men, gender divisions and welfare (pp.287-311). London: Routledge.
Feldman, Maryann; Guy, Frederick & Iammarino, Simona (2021). Regional income disparities, monopoly and finance. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 14/1), 25-49, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsaa024 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Florida, Richard (2021). Discontent and its geographies. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 14(3), 619-624.
Folkes, Louise (2023). Moving beyond "shopping list" positionality: Using kitchen table reflexivity and in/visible tools to develop reflexive qualitative research. Qualitative Research, 23(5), 1301-1318.
Foucault, Michel (1982 [1968]). The subject and power. Critical Inquiry, 8(4), 777-795.
Frost, Nollaig & Holt, Amanda (2014). Mother, researcher, feminist, woman: Reflections on "maternal status" as a researcher identity. Qualitative Research Journal, 14(2), 90-102.
Gramsci, Antonio (1971 [1947]). Selections from the prison notebooks (ed. and transl. by Q. Hoare & g. Nowell Smith). New York, NY: Lawrence & Wishart Ltd, https://ia600506.us.archive.org/19/items/AntonioGramsciSelectionsFromThePrisonNotebooks/Antonio-Gramsci-Selections-from-the-Prison-Notebooks.pdf [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Halilovich, Hariz (2022). The ethnographer unbared: Academic kinship, elective affinities and (re)negotiating researcher positionality. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 23(1), Art. 10, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-23.1.3831 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Heaphy, Brian (2008). The sociology of lesbian and gay reflexivity or reflexive sociology?. Sociological Research Online, 13(1), 188-199.
Hollway, Wendy (2015). Knowing mothers: Researching maternal identity change. London: Springer.
Jacobson, Danielle & Mustafa, Nida (2019). Social identity map: A reflexivity tool for practicing explicit positionality in critical qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, https://doi.org/10.1177/1609406919870075 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Jaimes, Patricia (2020). Navigating graduate school and surviving life as a mother–scholar. Women, Gender, and Families of Color, 8(2), 227-234.
Jamieson, Michelle K.; Govaart, Gisela H. & Pownall, Madeline (2023). Reflexivity in quantitative research: A rationale and beginner's guide. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 17(4), e12735, https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12735 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Jhagroe, Shivant (2018). Transition scientivism: On activist gardening and co-producing transition knowledge "from below". In Koen P.R. Bartels & Julia M. Wittmayer (Eds.), Action research in policy analysis (pp.64-85). London: Routledge.
Kennelly, Jacqueline; Larkins, Cath & Roy, Alastair (2024). Doing youth participatory action research (YPAR) with Bourdieu: An invitation to reflexive (participatory) sociology. The Sociological Review, 72(3), 493-510, https://doi.org/10.1177/00380261231177585 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Lac, Van (2021). A mother-scholar during COVID-19. Qualitative Inquiry, 27(8-9), 1130-1130.
Lapayese, Yvette V. (Ed.) (2012). Mother-scholar: (Re) imagining K-12 education. Los Angeles, CA: Sense Publishers.
LeBlanc, Sarah S.; Spradley, Elizabeth; Beal, Heather O.; Burrow, Lauren & Cross, Chrissy (2022). Being Dr. Mom and/or mom, Ph. D.: Autoethnographies of motherscholaring during COVID–19. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource Development, 34(3), 28-39.
Levitas, Ruth; Pantazis, Christina; Fahmy, Eldin; Gordon, David; Lloyd, Eva & Patsios, Demi (2007). The multi-dimensional analysis of social exclusion, http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/6853/1/multidimensional.pdf [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Lo, Ming-Cheng M. (2016). Cultural capital, motherhood capital, and low-income immigrant mothers' institutional negotiations. Sociological Perspectives, 59(3), 694-713.
Local Trust (2019). Left behind? Understanding communities on the edge, https://localtrust.org.uk/insights/research/left-behind-understanding-communities-on-the-edge/ [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Lokot, Michelle (2022). Reflecting on race, gender and age in humanitarian-led research: Going beyond institutional to individual positionality. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 23(2), Art. 9, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-22.2.3809 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
MacKinnon, Danny; Kempton, Louise; O'Brien, Peter; Ormerod, Emma; Pike, Andy & Tomaney, John (2022). Reframing urban and regional "development" for "left behind" places. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society, 15(1), 39-56, https://doi.org/10.1093/cjres/rsab034 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Martin, Ron; Gardiner, Ben; Pike, Andy; Sunley, Peter & Tyler, Peter (2021). Levelling up left behind places: The scale and nature of the economic and policy challenge. London: Routledge.
McDowell, Linda & Bonner-Thompson, Carl (2020). The other side of coastal towns: Young men's precarious lives on the margins of England. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(5), 916-932.
McKay, Lawrence (2019). "Left behind" people, or places? The role of local economies in perceived community representation. Electoral Studies, 60, 1-11, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.electstud.2019.04.010 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Mellor, Jody; Ingram, Nicola; Abrahams, Jessie & Beedell, Phoebe (2014). Class matters in the interview setting? Positionality, situatedness and class. British Educational Research Journal, 40(1), 135-149.
Moosavi, Leon (2023). Turning the decolonial gaze towards ourselves: Decolonising the curriculum and "decolonial reflexivity" in sociology and social theory. Sociology, 57(1), 137-156, https://doi.org/10.1177/00380385221096037 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Mosselson, Jacqueline (2014). Subjectivity and reflexivity: Locating the self in research on dislocation. In Gretchen B. Rossman & Sharon F. Rallis (Eds.), Everyday ethics (pp.101-116). London: Routledge.
Navarro, Zander (2006). In search of a cultural interpretation of power: The contribution of Pierre Bourdieu. IDS Bulletin Volume, 37(6), 11-22.
Nowicka, Magdalena & Ryan, Louise (2015). Beyond insiders and outsiders in migration research: Rejecting A priori commonalities. Introduction to the FQS thematic section on "Researcher, migrant, woman: Methodological implications of multiple positionalities in migration studies". Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 16(2), Art. 18, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-16.2.2342 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
O'Byrne, Patrick (2007). The advantages and disadvantages of mixing methods: An analysis of combining traditional and autoethnographic approaches. Qualitative Health Research, 17(10), 1381-1391.
Ovenden-Hope, Tanya & Passy, Rowena (2019). Educational isolation: A challenge for schools in England. Plymouth: Plymouth Marjon University and University of Plymouth, https://www.marjon.ac.uk/educational-isolation/Education-Isolation-Report.pdf [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Parameswaran, Radhika (2021). Global feminist positionality (GFP): Coordinates of time, space, and location in research. In Stine Eckert & Ingrid Bachmann (Eds.), Reflections on feminist communication and media scholarship (pp.148-162). London: Routledge.
Pillow, Wanda (2003). Confession, catharsis, or cure? Rethinking the uses of reflexivity as methodological power in qualitative research. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 16(2), 175-196.
Reay, Dianne (1998). Rethinking social class: Qualitative perspectives on class and gender. Sociology, 32(2), 259-275.
Richards, Gill (2022). Are we expecting too much? Aspirations and expectations of girls living in an ex-mining community. In Robin Simmons & Kat. Simpson (Eds.), Education, work and social change in Britain's former coalfield communities: The ghost of coal (pp.197-222). London: Springer.
Rodríguez-Pose, Andres; Terrero-Dávila, Javier & Lee, Neil (2023). Left-behind vs. unequal places: interpersonal inequality, economic decline, and the rise of populism in the US and Europe. Journal of Economic Geography, 23(5), 951-977, https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbad005 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Rogers, Chrissie (2020). Just mothers: Criminal justice, care ethics and "disabled" offenders. Disability & Society, 35(6), 926-948.
Ryan, Louise (2015). " Inside" and" outside" of what or where? Researching migration through multi-positionalities. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 16(2), Art. 17, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-16.2.2333 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Saldaña, Jonny & Omasta, Matt (2016). Qualitative research: Analyzing life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sotirin, Patty (2010). Autoethnographic mother-writing: Advocating radical specificity. Journal of Research Practice, 6(1), M9, http://jrp.icaap.org/index.php/jrp/article/view/220/189 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
St. Louis, Kathleen & Barton, Angela C. (2002). Tales from the science education crypt: A critical reflection of positionality, subjectivity, and reflexivity in research. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 3(3), Art. 19, https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-3.3.832 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Swartz, David (1997). Culture & power: The sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Sweet, Paige L. (2020). Who knows? Reflexivity in feminist standpoint theory and Bourdieu. Gender & Society, 34(6), 922-950.
Tajfel, Henri, & Turner, John C. (1979). An intergrative theory of intergroup conflict. In William G. Austin & Stephen Worchel (Eds.), The social psychology of intergroup relations (pp.33-47). Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole
Tarrant, Anna (2014). Negotiating multiple positionalities in the interview setting: researching across gender and generational boundaries. The Professional Geographer, 66(3), 493-500.
Telford, Luke (2021). "There is nothing there": Deindustrialization and loss in a coastal town. Competition & Change, 26(2), 197-214.
Telford, Luke & Lloyd, Anthony (2020). From "infant Hercules" to "ghost town": Industrial collapse and social harm in Teesside. Critical Criminology, 28(4), 595-611.
Townsend, Robert C. & Cushion, Christopher J. (2021). "Put that in your fucking research": Reflexivity, ethnography and disability sport coaching. Qualitative Research, 21(2), 251-267.
Wacquant, Loic J.D. (1989). Towards a reflexive sociology: A workshop with Pierre Bourdieu. Sociological Theory, 7(1), 26-63, https://loicwacquant.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/lw-1989-a-reflexive-sociology-a-workshop-with-pb.pdf [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Wenham, Aniela. (2020). "Wish you were here"? Geographies of exclusion: young people, coastal towns and marginality. Journal of Youth Studies, 23(1), 44-60.
Whitty, Chris (2021). Chief medical officer's annual report 2021: Health in coastal communities, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/chief-medical-officers-annual-report-2021-health-in-coastal-communities [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Wiant Cummins, Molly & Brannon, Grace E. (2022). Implicating ourselves through our research: A duoethnography of researcher reflexivity. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 51(1), 85-102, https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416211021898 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Wilson, Suzanne (2024a). A "left behind" habitus? Understanding local political disengagement using Bourdieu. Space and Polity, 28(2),267-288.
Wilson, Suzanne (2024b). Levelled up or left-behind? A relational approach to social inclusion in low-income coastal communities. Doctoral thesis, social inclusion, University of Central Lancashire, UK, https://clok.uclan.ac.uk/id/eprint/53725/ [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Wilson, Suzanne & McGuire, Kim (2022). "You feel a bit lost": A case study interpreting white, working-class mothers' engagement through habitus. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 43(2), 314-331.
Wilson, Suzanne & Worsley, Aidan (2021). Unequal childhoods: A case study application of Lareau's "accomplishment of natural growth" in British working-class and poor families. British Educational Research Journal, 47(3), 770-786.
Wilson, Suzaane; Ridley, Julie & Morris, David (2024). Understanding the impact on children's citizenship of participating in community-based action research. Citizenship Studies, 28(2), 222-242, https://doi.org/10.1080/13621025.2024.2360404 [Accessed: June 13, 2025].
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Suzanne Wilson
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
