Positionality and participatory ethics in the Global South: critical reflections on and lessons learned from fieldwork failure

Abstract

ABSTRACT This essay is a critical reflection on positionality, participatory ethics and fieldwork failure in the Global South. It argues that the collision of our academic theories with socio-political realities in the field cannot be separated from and often includes who we are and what we think we can do as researchers. It explores how my understandings of my positionality as a white, male doctoral student from the United States were challenged during my fieldwork in the interior of São Paulo, Brazil. I explore the difficulties of negotiating my positionality amongst different groups of people with competing political interests and ideologies at the annual Festa Confederada – a festival that celebrates US southern heritage and culture. I critically reflect on how my failure to negotiate the various axes of my identity with the local chapter of the Movimento Negro (Black Movement) and with the Confederate Festival’s organizers revealed political-ideological differences within the Movimento Negro and resulted in my being barred from conducting research at the annual festival. In an effort to be as transparent and self-critical as possible, this essay also explores valuable and sometimes embarrassing lessons learned that other researchers from the Global North should heed before entering the field.