Where Am I in the Picture? Researcher Positionality in Rural Studies

Positionality and researcher reflexivity – how to account for one’s subject position – remain as challenges for new researchers. But they also remain as challenges for experienced researchers, who are often involved in multiple research projects simultaneously. Where Am I in the Picture? sheds light on the idea of researcher positionality through visual methodologies, particularly in the context of studying rurality in Canada, Sweden, and South Africa.

The book is intended for new and experienced researchers seeking to decolonize their own perspectives in research in the social sciences and humanities. It incorporates photographs, drawings, and memory work to highlight the social constructedness of what counts as rural. Drawing together compelling narratives from researchers about their positionality in studying rurality, the book highlights a need for greater attention to “where we are in the picture” more broadly. It suggests that when it comes to the rural, researchers need to rethink the interplay of dominant images, insider and outsider perspectives, and what this interplay means in relation to interpretation. Where Am I in the Picture? presents a new vision of how to take into consideration positionality in research.

Claudia Mitchell is a distinguished James McGill professor in the Department of Integrated Studies in Education at McGill University and an honorary professor in the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Katarina Giritli-Nygren is a professor of sociology at Mid Sweden University.
Relebohile Moletsane is the JL Dube chair in rural education in the School of Education and the pro vice chancellor of social cohesion at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.