Horizontal Methodology Research Articles

Horizontal methodologies in community interpreting studies: Conducting research with Latin American service users in Aotearoa New Zealand

Community interpreting norms and research have been heavily influenced by a Western-centric community of practitioners and an individualist, positivist philosophy. This has resulted not only in an entrenched emphasis on professional interpreters’ detachment, neutrality, and invisibility but also in research which often ignores interpreting service users from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. This article addresses the complexity of operationalising horizontal methodologies during interpreting research in an effort to centre marginalised voices and epistemologies. The study involved a research project conducted with the Latin American community in Aotearoa New Zealand, employing horizontal one-on-one and group dialogues to assess interpreting service users’ views on allyship and social justice in spoken-language community interpreting. In this article, horizontal methodologies are presented as a culturally affirming way for Latin American service users to co-produce knowledge, and for Latin American researchers to engage with their own identity, recognise their impact on society, and challenge colonial research practices and interpreting norms.

«To rediscover the world's enchantment»: Anthropology on the way to new animism

Annotation. The article is devoted to the evolution of scientific ideas about spirits, deities and other sacred beings, from the Enlightenment to the present day. The author touches upon some influential schools and bright scientific ideas in anthropology, ethnology and integrative scientific projects, and also outlines the main directions of the humanitarian discussion about the ontology of spirits and related religious and magical practices. The objective of the article is the historical and epistemological conceptualization of the turn from the positivist idea of ​​“disenchanting of the world” (M. Weber) to the poststructuralist and perspectivist project “to rediscover the world's enchantment” (E. Kohn). This turn, according to the author, became possible thanks to postcolonial reflection, the movement for the decolonization of knowledge, deconstruction of classical philosophical problems and deep postmodern criticism of the Enlightenment program, which largely contained pre-secular intentions. In the XXI century, many anthropologists began to consider local ontologies as metaphysics or foreign cultural sciences, and spirits and deities as selves or non-human actors. The development of such horizontal methodologies, made possible by the increasing penetration of philosophy and semiotics into the social sciences, led to the emergence of the so-called new (or experimental) animism (D. Haraway). It can be described as an experimental platform associated with research in the field of "anthropology on the other side of man". Such studies, in addition to their ethnographic content and philosophical justification, usually have a pronounced ideological charge. This charge lies in the ecological and heuristic significance of overcoming anthropocentrism as a whole or a number of its negative consequences. Key words: anthropology of religion, epistemology, magic, sacred, spirits, deities, ontological turn, animism, new animism, poststructuralism

Los Maestros como sujetos educadores

La pregunta por el significado del ser maestro resuena en nuestro presente por múltiples razones. La principal es la de su naturalización, ya que parece común y general pero no lo es; no tiene respuesta. A los maestros se les ha visto como trabajadores sindicalizados o como servidores públicos, expuestos al escrutinio social y vulnerables a las constantes reformas. Aquí los miro como sujetos educadores que se mueven en un campo de constantes posiciones, reglas y encuentros (muchas veces conflictivos) con la comunidad escolar, autoridades y sociedad en general. Hablo de sujetos educadores en un afán de reivindicar su papel histórico, ya que son productores de experiencias pedagógicas poco reconocidas y sobajadas a mera empiria acumulada, lo cual legitima relaciones verticales frente a las autoridades, académicos, medios de comunicación y sociedad en su conjunto; de tal forma, se priorizan sus deficiencias y se busca un deber ser. ¿Cómo son maestros como sujetos educadores en su vida escolar? y ¿Qué relación establecen con la cultura escrita? El objetivo es comprender a los maestros como sujetos educadores en su vida escolar y en su relación con la cultura escrita. Con una metodología horizontal, realicé observaciones y la entrevistas con maestros de escuelas primarias del Valle de Toluca de 2019 a 2020, respetando al máximo su subjetividad. El presente artículo es parte de la investigación Reconfiguración en educación, identidades y prácticas que lleva a cabo el Cuerpo Académico “Prácticas y subjetividad docente en contextos de reconfiguración educativa”. La temática no es menor, antes, por el contrario, es una beta que a simple vista pareciera ampliamente tratada; sin embargo, sospecho que está naturalizada por el hecho de que la sociedad al magisterio como servidores públicos, trabajadores de la educación y más recientemente nominado como facilitador de aprendizajes, guía líder mediador y otros.