“Personal is Political”
Professor Annie Bartos’ words lingered for days after the round-table discussion on power imbalances in research had concluded. As someone who would rather attend an 8 a.m lecture than read the morning news, I have never been a fan of anything political. The notion of a power struggle, which is fundamentally embedded in how anything comes to be defined as political makes me uneasy, even though it is a part of my identity. Maybe it’s because I come from a country where everyday, people grapple to be represented as people, and not as an accent or an overly sweet dish of butter chicken. Maybe it’s because they hardly ever win. But who knows?
Through seemingly trivial demonstrations of power within interpersonal contexts, minorities and indigenous populations are taught that their identities are only worthy of representation when being scrutinized – an idea which extends to research. Exemplifying Professor Tracy McIntosh’s idea of the “downward gaze”, communities within surveillance are expected to be thankful for the opportunity of being picked-apart so they can somehow be improved. Research surrounding Indigenous populations from Western standpoints has often over-emphasized “negative” aspects of their cultures (Ermine, Sinclair & Jeffrey, 2004), perhaps to justify the desire for assimilation that is often imposed upon them. This is not to say that dominant research methodologies are always exercised with the intent of superiority. But in order to be truly empowering, research must not be of, but with marginalized identities.
People whose identities have been suppressed should not have to graciously be included in the narratives that seek to understand their “perspectives”. Instead, they should be acknowledged as members of a reality as legitimate as any other, and given ownership of how their stories are recited to the world through research.
References
Ermine, W., Sinclair, R., & Jeffery, B. (2004). The ethics of research involving Indigenous . Saskatoon, Saskatchewan: Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre.
