Research As Resistance This page intentionally left blank Research As Resistance Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Approaches Edited by Leslie Brown and Susan Strega Canadian Scholars’ Press Toronto Research As Resistance: Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Approaches Edited by Leslie Brown and Susan Strega First published in 2005 by Canadian Scholars’ Press/Women’s Press 180 Bloor Street West, Suite 801 Toronto, Ontario M5S 2V6 www.cspi.org www.womenspress.ca Copyright © 2005 Leslie Brown, Susan Strega, the contributing authors, and Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmi(cid:1) ed, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the wri(cid:1) en permission of Canadian Scholars’ Press, except for brief passages quoted for review purposes. In the case of photocopying, a licence may be obtained from Access Copyright: One Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1E5, (416) 868-1620, fax (416) 868-1621, toll-free 1-800-893-5777, www. accesscopyright.ca. Every reasonable eff ort has been made to identify copyright holders. Women’s Press would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its a(cid:1) ention. Canadian Scholars’ Press/Women’s Press gratefully acknowledges fi nancial support for our publishing activities from the Ontario the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) and the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit Program: Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication <to come> Cover design by George Kirkpatrick Text design and layout by Brad Horning 05 06 07 08 09 5 4 3 2 1 Printed and bound in Canada by AGMV Marquis Imprimeur Inc. Dedication In memory of Tanis Doe, activist, teacher, researcher, scholar, comedian, ballroom dancer, mother, colleague, and friend who lived her life without complaining, but never without critique. This page intentionally left blank TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction Trangressive Possibilities Leslie Brown and Susan Strega . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Chapter 1 Emerging from the Margins: Indigenous Methodologies Margaret Kovach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Chapter 2 Situating Anti-Oppressive Theories within Critical and Diff erence-Centered Perspectives Mehmoona Moosa-Mitha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chapter 3 Stepping off the Road: A Narrative (of) Inquiry Sally A. Kimpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Chapter 4 Pu(cid:1) ing Ourselves Forward: Location in Aboriginal Research Kathy Absolon and Cam Wille(cid:1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Chapter 5 Interrupting Positions: Critical Thresholds and Queer Pro/Positions Fairn herising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127 vii Chapter 6 Supporting Young People’s Transitions from Care: Refl ections on Doing Participatory Action Research with Youth from Care Deb Rutman, Carol Hubberstey, April Barlow, and Erinn Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Chapter 7 Wife Rena Teary Rena Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181 Chapter 8 The View from the Poststructural Margins: Epistemology and Methodology Reconsidered Susan Strega . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199 Chapter 9 Honouring the Oral Traditions of My Ancestors through Storytelling Qwul’sih’yah’maht, Robina Anne Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Chapter 10 Becoming an Anti-Oppressive Researcher Karen Po(cid:1) s and Leslie Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255 Contributor Biographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291 INTRODUCTION TRANSGRESSIVE POSSIBILITIES Leslie Brown and Susan Strega The phone rang and it was Susan, calling from Britain where she was working on her doctoral dissertation. She had been searching the library stacks for a radical and progressive research text. Knowing that I taught research, she thought I might make a recommendation. I confessed that I couldn’t make a recommendation, and reminded her that I had been complaining that I couldn’t fi nd a research text to teach from that refl ects the diff erent realities of students and off ers them possibilities for new ways of thinking. Since I had worked with several graduate students and practitioners who are doing innovative, transformative research, Susan wanted to know why I didn’t write the book I wanted. Okay, I said. Want to do it with me? This book is a collection of original pieces by practitioners and researchers from diverse locations who position social justice as necessary for research processes as well as for research outcomes. Many of these chapters were originally presented for commentary and critique at a series of symposia sponsored by the Research Initiatives for Social Change (RISC) Unit at the School of Social Work, University of Victoria. Thus, although this is a diverse collection, certain themes and issues recur throughout the chapters, resulting in an innovative book that we hope will provoke discussion and further understanding for senior undergraduates, graduate students, and experienced researchers in various fi elds. One of these common themes is a willingness to explore the emancipatory possibilities of new approaches to research, even when these transgress the boundaries of traditional research and scholarship. While such explorations can be exciting, violating research and 1
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