The post-colonial perspective of Dr Patrick Thomsen, despite his position as a queer Pasifika man, reflects the importance of the researcher’s consideration of knowledge genealogy. Thomsen’s research seminar is a reminder of the Western gaze that is pushed upon us; of hegemonic views that influence what we see as objective ‘fact’.[1] These ‘facts’ carry with them knowledge genealogies, essentially- how they came to be known. The initial research goal of Thomsen to investigate why LGBT+ Korean men found it hard to come out, he later realised, was actually an application of the perpetuated Western ‘coming out’ narrative. Thomsen’s research story, specifically his use of the Pacific itulagi, worldview, shows us that to conduct research that is its most objective, un-filtered truth it is crucial to consider the cultural context and lived experiences of the researched, rather than that of the researcher.
Ultimately, Thomsen has taught us that the efficacy of Western scholars, be it a queer Pasifika man or like I, a mixed-race wahine from Central Auckland, would be flawed if we did not look to self-critique our own knowledge genealogy. Thomsen’s exploration of ethnography, the positioning of researcher and their subjects in an objective relationship to excavate truths, is a vital one to all researchers in our pursuit of what is real, and how we have come to know this is real. Thomsen’s research process has shown that it is pertinent to recognise the influence of the Western hegemony in our research pathways- and without doing so would further reinforce the inherent Western bias in academia.
[1] Thomsen, Patrick. Great Works to Great Work –Exploring Knowledge Genealogies in Social Research, p2.
