Research as Resistance: Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Approaches

312 Pages·2005·1 MB·English

by  Leslie Brown

Research
As
Resistance
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Research
As
Resistance
Critical, Indigenous, and
Anti-Oppressive Approaches
Edited by
Leslie Brown and Susan Strega
Canadian Scholars’ Press
Toronto
Research As Resistance: Critical, Indigenous, and Anti-Oppressive Approaches
Edited by Leslie Brown and Susan Strega
First published in 2005 by
Canadian Scholars’ Press/Women’s Press
180 Bloor Street West, Suite 801
Toronto, Ontario
M5S 2V6
www.cspi.org
www.womenspress.ca
Copyright © 2005 Leslie Brown, Susan Strega, the contributing authors, and Canadian
Scholars’ Press Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied,
reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmi(cid:1) ed, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without the wri(cid:1) en permission of Canadian Scholars’
Press, except for brief passages quoted for review purposes. In the case of photocopying,
a licence may be obtained from Access Copyright: One Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto,
Ontario, M5E 1E5, [phone], fax [phone], toll-free 1-800-893-5777, www.
accesscopyright.ca.
Every reasonable eff ort has been made to identify copyright holders. Women’s Press
would be pleased to have any errors or omissions brought to its a(cid:1) ention.
Canadian Scholars’ Press/Women’s Press gratefully acknowledges fi nancial support for
our publishing activities from the Ontario the Government of Canada through the Book
Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) and the Government of Ontario
through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit Program:
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
<to come>
Cover design by George Kirkpatrick
Text design and layout by Brad Horning
05 06 07 08 09 5 4 3 2 1
Printed and bound in Canada by AGMV Marquis Imprimeur Inc.
Dedication
In memory of Tanis Doe,
activist, teacher, researcher, scholar, comedian,
ballroom dancer, mother, colleague, and friend
who lived her life without complaining,
but never without critique.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Trangressive Possibilities
Leslie Brown and Susan Strega . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1
Emerging from the Margins: Indigenous Methodologies
Margaret Kovach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Chapter 2
Situating Anti-Oppressive Theories within
Critical and Diff erence-Centered Perspectives
Mehmoona Moosa-Mitha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Chapter 3
Stepping off the Road: A Narrative (of) Inquiry
Sally A. Kimpson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Chapter 4
Pu(cid:1) ing Ourselves Forward: Location in Aboriginal Research
Kathy Absolon and Cam Wille(cid:1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Chapter 5
Interrupting Positions: Critical Thresholds and
Queer Pro/Positions
Fairn herising . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
vii
Chapter 6
Supporting Young People’s Transitions from Care:
Refl ections on Doing Participatory Action Research
with Youth from Care
Deb Rutman, Carol Hubberstey,
April Barlow, and Erinn Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
Chapter 7
Wife Rena Teary
Rena Miller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Chapter 8
The View from the Poststructural Margins:
Epistemology and Methodology Reconsidered
Susan Strega . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
Chapter 9
Honouring the Oral Traditions of My Ancestors
through Storytelling
Qwul’sih’yah’maht, Robina Anne Thomas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237
Chapter 10
Becoming an Anti-Oppressive Researcher
Karen Po(cid:1) s and Leslie Brown . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Contributor Biographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
INTRODUCTION
TRANSGRESSIVE POSSIBILITIES
Leslie Brown and Susan Strega
The phone rang and it was Susan, calling from Britain where she was
working on her doctoral dissertation. She had been searching the
library stacks for a radical and progressive research text. Knowing
that I taught research, she thought I might make a recommendation.
I confessed that I couldn’t make a recommendation, and reminded
her that I had been complaining that I couldn’t fi nd a research text to
teach from that refl ects the diff erent realities of students and off ers
them possibilities for new ways of thinking. Since I had worked with
several graduate students and practitioners who are doing innovative,
transformative research, Susan wanted to know why I didn’t write
the book I wanted. Okay, I said. Want to do it with me?
This book is a collection of original pieces by practitioners and
researchers from diverse locations who position social justice as
necessary for research processes as well as for research outcomes.
Many of these chapters were originally presented for commentary and
critique at a series of symposia sponsored by the Research Initiatives for
Social Change (RISC) Unit at the School of Social Work, University of
Victoria. Thus, although this is a diverse collection, certain themes and
issues recur throughout the chapters, resulting in an innovative book
that we hope will provoke discussion and further understanding for
senior undergraduates, graduate students, and experienced researchers
in various fi elds.
One of these common themes is a willingness to explore the
emancipatory possibilities of new approaches to research, even when
these transgress the boundaries of traditional research and scholarship.
While such explorations can be exciting, violating research and
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