‘As long as you’re not an asshole’: insider-outsider dynamics in queer research

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research note is a contribution to the growing body of literature discussing the methodological, ethical and personal questions of researching queer issues in Central Asia. Through reflective engagement with my own fieldwork experiences and participant interactions, I critically discuss how I have often found myself both a ‘queer insider’ and a ‘national outsider’ at different times and in different eyes. These simultaneous positions intersect to inform and influence my research on queer migration in Kazakhstan. While, so far, my queer insider position has often helped build relationships and trust, for some participants my national outsider position proved more complex: on occasion marking me out as a potential problem, and on occasion as a likely non-judgemental or open listener. By examining these shifting dynamics I hope to contribute to deeper understandings of the ethical considerations of cross-cultural queer research in Kazakhstan, Central Asia and beyond.