Work in Progress: Being a researcher in stigmatized communities - insider and outsider reflections

Fatima Hashmi writes about her Work in Progress seminar on Thursday: The presentation aims to provide some reflections of my doctoral research in stigmatised communities and highlight my positionality as an insider and outsider. These elements fit into this study, the fact that I conducted two fieldworks, where I was an insider in Pakistan and an outsider in Colombia. Belonging from the Hazara community, I had first-hand knowledge of the language, habits and customs, explicit and implicit routines and rules of functioning. Whereas, I had the lack of knowledge of the multiple types of Afro-descendant populations in Cartagena as well as language barrier. I show how these positionalities played a role in the research process; from the preparation by contacting the experts on Afro-descendants and Palenqueros prior to conducting fieldwork, which was not replicated to the same extent in the case of the Hazaras; to the process of gatekeepers’ recruitment in both sites, which were also different but what remained the same were the research methods that were employed in both sites. I reflect on my outsider positionality in Cartagena with shared experiences, such as forced migration and belonging to ethnic group and my insider position as a mix of Hazara (Shia) and Punjabi (Sunni), where my positionalities started to become somewhat blurred.

I also highlight the methodological and ethical considerations in both communities, where more familiarity as an insider and the risk of ‘repercussion’ on my family and its reputation, I was more aware so as not to disrespect the elders with my questions as well as why some were chosen for life-history interviews and others were not. Born and raised in the Hazara community, the participants assumed I knew exactly what they were talking about. Whereas, as an outsider, although I had the general knowledge of the context and the history of armed conflict in Colombia, the Afro-descendant community in Nelson Mandela neighbourhood felt it was necessary to educate me about their specific regions of displacement and their own experiences of forced migration through the process of truth and dialogue. Whereas, for the Palenquero community (originating from San Basilio de Palenque, the first free town of the Americas) in San Fernando, the community leader did something similar by taking me to visit San Basilio de Palenque to witness first-hand where they come from, their rituals and traditions. I was reminded throughout my fieldwork to be mindful how I narrate their history, rituals and traditions. In both cases, reflective thinking throughout the process of data collection and analysis helped to keep enough distance so as (1) not to miss the object by being too far or (2) ignoring it by being too close.

However, I question whether my positionality is risking to bring bias in my research? I conclude with reflecting on whether the positionalities of the researcher have to be within the set boundaries of an insider and an outsider or is there a space between that is blurred?  Or maybe were they evolving during the research process? Is it influencing the way I am looking at the data today? Or because of the blurred boundaries, now I look at both data the same way, simply as a researcher and not as an insider or an outsider. The seminar is at 16.30-18.00 on Thursday 20 February in room JHB303 in the John Henry Brookes building, Headington Campus. (The full list of seminars for this semester is here.)