Positionality and Power: Reflexivity in Negotiating the Relationship Between Land-Lost Farmers and the Local Government in China

Abstract

Reflexivity has gained a vital role in qualitative research. Distinct from the extant global literature that explores reflexivity conceptually or practically, gaps are found in China studies and the Chinese literature, where the discussion of reflexivity remains in the conceptual realm while falling short of practical terms. Doing reflexivity entails the self-reflection of the researcher as well as the reflection of the research participants. This article aims to deal with the following questions: What are the respective positions of the researcher and the research participants, and how do they relate to each other? How do such positions and their relatedness affect the research processes and products? Such are the issues of positionality and power. There are studies that focus on either positionality or power, respectively. What remains underdiscussed is the complexities incurred by the combination of positionality and power when the relationship between two distinct actors is concerned, especially in the Chinese context. To fill these gaps, this article focuses on the practice of reflexivity in a case study on the relationship between land-lost farmers and the local government in China. Specifically, the core questions regarding positionality and power—of myself and of the research participants—are discussed in terms of how to manage the role of the researcher, how to treat participants’ utterances, and how to manage the power relation between the researcher and the researched as well as the power relations in the field. A key finding is that being reflexive about positionality and power not only substantiates an understanding of China studies for global researchers but also situates the understanding of reflexivity, positionality, and power in a wider global framework, while highlighting the distinctiveness of the interrelated positionality and power in the Chinese context.