Working through and with whiteness in fieldwork practice: activating an ethic of solidarity in race research in the Netherlands

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines how whiteness operates within research projects – specifically projects where white researchers undertake studies on race – and offers possibilities for activating an ‘ethic of solidarity’ within and through skewed power dynamics. An ‘ethic of solidarity’ offers five areas for white researchers to reflect and act on: probing positionality, interrogating epistemic assumptions, disrupting hierarchies of power, shifting asymmetrical dialogue, and practicing decolonial research. With examples from my participatory theatre research with white, Black, and Brown Dutch youth in the Netherlands, I demonstrate how these reflections can turn into action. I offer the term an ‘ethic of solidarity’ to refer to a process of reflection, self-positioning, and action that is, in fact, an essential methodological component in social justice research design and process. In doing so, this article provides insight into how white researchers can undertake politically engaged research by activating solidarity.