Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Positionality, subjectivity, and race in transnational and transcultural geographical research

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 22; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/0966369x.2013.879097

1360-0524

Karen Fisher,

Migration and Labor Dynamics

AbstractThis article investigates the complexities of negotiating subject positions in transnational and transcultural research by focusing on the gendering of race and racialization. As more people claim to be of mixed 'racial' descent and Western researchers grow more diverse, it is increasingly important that this diversity is reflected within geographical research; however, much of the existing research on subjectivity and its role in the research process has focused either on 'white' researchers in Global South contexts or on researchers working in their 'home' country or community. Less visible are accounts from those who challenge conceptions of 'white' Western researcher or whose racial identity can be conceived as hybrid. Moreover, there is a tendency to conceptualize race/racialization and their effects on subjectivity and positionality in relatively narrow terms. This article draws attention to the changing subjectivities of a racialized gendered body as it moves into different contexts. I examine how conceptualizations of race and discourses of racialization constitute researcher subjectivity, and how different understandings of 'race' mediate relationships between researcher and research participants (and others). To understand the spatial (re)configurations of (race) subjectivities and how this affects researcher positionality, I offer an autoethnography of a bi/multiracial Western woman of New Zealand Māori/Pākehā descent interpellated as 'insufficient Other' in her home context of Aotearoa New Zealand, then reconstituted as white and 'sufficient Self' in the Philippines by her research participants and Filipino 'family' and friends.Posicionalidad, subjetividad y raza en la investigación geográfica transnacional y transculturalEste artículo investiga las complejidades de las negociaciones de las posiciones de sujeto en la investigación transnacional y transcultural enfocándose en la generización de la raza y la racialización. A medida que cada vez más personas se proclaman de descendencia "racial" mixta y lxs investigadorxs occidentales se vuelven más diversxs, es cada vez más importante que esta diversidad se vea reflejada dentro de la investigación geográfica; sin embargo, gran parte de la investigación existente sobre subjetividad y su rol en el proceso de investigación se ha centrado ya sea en investigadorxs "blancxs" en contextos del Sur Global, o en investigadorxs trabajando en su país o comunidad "de origen". Los relatos de quienes desafían concepciones de investigador/a occidental "blancx" o de cuyas identidades raciales pueden ser concebidas como híbridas son menos visibles. Además, existe una tendencia a conceptualizar la raza/racialización y sus efectos sobre la subjetividad y la posicionalidad en términos relativamente limitados. Este artículo presta atención a las cambiantes subjetividades del cuerpo generizado racializado mientras se mueve en diferentes contextos. Examino cómo las conceptualizaciones de raza y los discursos de racialización constituyen la subjetividad del/a investigador/a y cómo las diferentes formas de entender la "raza" median las relaciones entre el/a investigador/a y lxs participantxs de la investigación (y otrxs). Para comprender la (re)configuración espacial de subjetividades (de raza) y cómo esto afecta la posicionalidad del/a investigador/a, ofrezco una autoetnografía de una mujer occidental bi/multiracial de Nueva Zelanda de ascendencia Māori/Pākehā interpelada como "Otra insuficiente" en su contexto de origen en Aotearoa Nueva Zelanda, luego reconstituida como blanca e "Individuo suficiente" en las Filipinas por sus participantes en la investigación y "familia" y amigxs.跨国与跨文化地理研究中的位置性、主体性与种族本文透过聚焦种族的性别化与种族化,探讨在跨国与跨文化研究中,协商主体位置的复杂性。随着越来越多人宣称身为混血的"种族"后裔,以及西方研究者的日益多元化,此一多样性能反映在地理研究中便愈益重要;但有关主体性及其在研究过程中之角色的多数既有研究,不是聚焦全球南方脉络中的"白人"研究者,不然便是聚焦在其"母国"或自身社群进行研究的研究者;来自挑战西方研究者做为"白人"的概念、或是种族认同混杂的研究者的观点则较少见。此外,在概念化种族/种族化及其对主体性和位置性的影响时,则倾向採取相对狭窄的定义。本文关注种族化、性别化的身体,在进入不同的脉络时改变中的主体性。我检视种族的概念化与种族化的论述,如何构组了研究者的主体性,以及对于"种族"的不同理解,如何中介研究者和研究参与者(及其他人)之间的关係。为了理解(种族)主体性的空间(再)结构,我将提供一个身为新西兰毛利人/非毛利人后裔的双重/多重种族西方女性的自我民族志,在其新西兰的家乡"白云缭绕之乡"(Aotearoa)的脉络中,此一身份被质问为"不充足的他者",而在菲律宾中,则被她的研究参与者和菲律宾"家庭"及朋友们建构做为"充份的自我"的白人。Keywords:: positionalitysubjectivityMāoriraceracializationmana wahinePalabras claves:: posicionalidadsubjetividadMāorirazaracializaciónmana wahine关键词:: 位置性主体性毛利种族种族化女性权力党 AcknowledgementsEarlier versions of this paper were presented at the New Zealand Geographical Society conference in 2008, the Manu Ao Academy Seminar series in 2010, and the Center for Urban and Regional Studies, University of Newcastle, Australia, in 2011. At each of these venues, I received helpful comments and positive feedback that helped in the conceptualization and development of the paper. I would also like to acknowledge Elanna Herbert and Jane Lee for feedback on early drafts. I am especially grateful to the extremely useful and constructive comments of the three anonymous reviewers and Peter Hopkins for his input as editor. All shortcomings, of course, remain entirely mine.Notes 1. Mana wahine is understood as a type of Māori feminism, distinct from 'white' (pākehā) feminism in New Zealand, which seeks to decolonize racialized constructions of Māori women imposed by mainly non-Māori (and Māori) men. Mana wahine comprises two terms. Mana has been described as having 'both worldly and ethereal meanings' (Durie Citation1998, 2), which make it difficult to directly translate into English; for Māori, mana has many meanings, including authority, prestige, power, and strength. Wahine translates to woman, female or wife. Simmonds (Citation2011, 11) asserts that mana wahine provides opportunities for examining the 'diverse and complex geographies of Māori women' and echoes Smith (Citation1999) by calling for the further development of mana wahine as an epistemological framework. 2. The family compound comprised four separate households totaling 20 people (in 2003). This number fluctuated on occasions when other family members would stay for short periods of time. 3. I recall an experience when, upon starting at a new primary school, the school Principal asked whether I identified as Māori or Pākehā. When I replied 'Pākehā,' he informed me that I was wrong and that I was in fact Māori. 4. Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Māori did not have a collective identity but were instead identified through tribal names. The use of 'Māori' and 'Pākehā' as identifiers came into being in relation to each other: the term Māori was used by Māori to distinguish them as normal or usual in relation to Pākehā. As an adjective, Pākehā denotes non-Māori; as a noun, it refers to people of European descent and fair skin (Drichel Citation2008; Webber Citation2008). 5. The ability to speak te reo Māori (Māori language) has been debated as a marker of an 'authentic' Māori identity (McIntosh Citation2005). As I do not speak Māori, this has caused me anxiety about identifying as Māori as I have been made to feel this delegitimizes my claims. 6. In a tribal- or family-based communal compound, the marae is the open area in front of the wharenui, or meeting house, where formal greetings and discussions take place. It is also often used to refer to the complex of buildings around the marae. 7. Hori is used pejoratively to refer to a Māori who is considered slovenly, unhygienic, poorly presented (personally and in their home or other possessions) and other similar socially inappropriate characteristics. Hori is also the Māori version of George. 8. My accent also distinguished me as different to North Americans. 9. In Bohol, Sandugo or the 'Blood Compact' refers to an unwritten treaty of friendship between Datu Sikatuna (Bohol) and Captain Miguel Lopez de Legaspi (Spain) which was sealed in March 1565. Celebrations are held annually in July in commemoration. In New Zealand, the Treaty of Waitangi was signed by representatives of the British Crown and Māori chiefs on 6 February 1840.10. For further information, see Kelly (Citation2000), who describes the racialization of social hierarchy in which European-born Spaniards were considered the top of the hierarchy, then Philippine-born Spaniards, Spanish-Filipino mestizos, Chinese-Filipino mestizos, Chinese, and native Filipino.Additional informationNotes on contributorsKaren T. FisherKaren Fisher is a lecturer at the University of Auckland. Her research interests are in environmental governance and the politics of resource use, geographies of development, and the production of knowledge. Her research to date has been located in the Philippines; recently, she has become involved in collaborative research focused on indigenous environmental governance in New Zealand. She has published on urban water governance and the politics of urban water supply, and private-sector participation in development.