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5 - Insider/Outsider perspectives and placing issues

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

Pranee Liamputtong
Affiliation:
La Trobe University, Victoria
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Summary

Who can hear the voice of the colonized? Who might listen with authenticity, with sensitivity, with an open mind?

(Adler 2004: 107)

Every path I/i take is edged with thorns. On the one hand, i play into the Savior's hands by concentrating on authenticity, for my attention is numbed by it and diverted from other important issues; on the other hand, i do feel the necessity to return to my so-called roots, since they are the fount of my strength, the guiding arrow to which i constantly refer before heading for a new direction.

(Minh-Ha 2006: 249)

Rarely, do the people studied mistake the investigator for one of their own … But if you are there for some time, as a living, reacting fellow human being, rather than a human pretending to be a disembodied fly on the wall, the people you are studying will create a space, a role for you.

(Cassell 2002: 180)

A generation ago, cross-cultural research was dominated by white researchers. Most researchers would either belong to white, middle-class backgrounds and travelled a long distance to ‘study’ native, or they would be local people or those who come from privileged positions such as university researchers doing a project with ethnic minority groups in their own countries. Recently, however, we have seen a growing number of scholars who carry out research among people who share their own cultural identity (see Bulmer & Solomos 2004; Ramji 2008).

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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References

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