Issues of Research & Representation

Dr. Ansari said something in class today in reference to a question I asked which really resonated with me. I can’t remember the specific question right now, but it went something like this: How can we as people work outside of the community for a better world when we’re still dealing with issues in our personal/immediate communities? His answer is something that I already kind of knew but actually inspired me this time. He basically said to let go of anger. Anger halts healing and “healing and letting go” is intrinsic to reclaiming agency and designing for communities.

From the lecture:

What is research?

-curating vast information and sifting through to collect

-the researcher vs the research subject (researcher = ignorant; the subject = knowledge/knowing what that subject is)

-research is always framed as the research of the different. (this community is different from me; I don’t know who they are; therefore I will look into their difference)

-the notion of ‘difference’ in research

-interlocution = relating to interrogating someone; the researcher (could include all research methods)

-interviewer = specific research method

-interlocution — anything that involves interpretation

- we all are interpreting things and filtering through the lens of our knowledge

Research = Interlocution — Interpretation — Translation — Informant

Is there such a thing as an authentic narrative?

There is no such thing as an authentic account. It is all an interpretation from the knowledge and experiences of the self and then translating that knowledge to a Western audience.

The issues with “representation”

-POC as ‘authentic’ informants for their community

Dominant institutions only raise voices for the oppressed when there is a point of crisis on a subject matter (ex: BLM taking a rise in 2018 even tho these issues existed long ago)

There is a huge and important difference between the site of research and the translation of that research; where the research is taking place (intrinsic to the time of which it’s taking place) vs. the translation/interpretation of it

Methods on

1. Claiming
2. Testimonies
3. Storytelling
4. Celebrating Survival
5. Remembering
6. Indigenizing & Indiginist Processes
7. Interviewing
8. Revitalizing & Regenerating
9. Connecting
10. Reading
11. Writing & Theorizing
12. Representing
13. Gendering
14. Envisioning
15. Reframing
16. Restoring
17. Returning
18. Democratizing & Sovereignty
19. Networking
20. Naming
21. Protecting
22. Creating
23. Negotiating
24. Discoursing
25. Sharing
26. Loving
27. Healing
28. Letting Go
29. Living in Relation
30. Positioning
31. Replanting
32. Designing & Engineering
33. Retracing Despair & Trauma
34. Refreshing Collectives
35. Developing Economies