Description
This article examines the role of positionality in data collection on sensitive topics in conflict zones--specifically the complex dynamic between insider/outsider, and the advantages and disadvantages of being both. During the 12 months of fieldwork in Turkey’s Kurdish borderlands, I had a positionality that was constantly shifting between being an outsider and insider. Being some kind of an insider as a Kurdish woman from Karakocan (also as the descendant of a politically known family targeted by the state) provided space for sharing untold experiences and common references and enabled the deciphering of some political messages/codes. At the same time, being somewhat of an outsider (at least culturally), I was able to occasionally dismiss some cultural references, everyday language and societal norms, and thus cross boundaries and access knowledge and spaces other Kurdish women could not. All of this provided unique relationship to the field and its data. Thus, in efforts to understand the place of such research, within the context of a routinized state of intimidation and violence embedded in everyday experiences, I focus on questions concerning the dynamics of the relationship between the researcher and the participants: How does it feel to be a researcher who is not only an outsider but also an insider in the context of violence? Is the insider/outsider dilemma a useful category in terms of which to thoroughly understand diverse experiences and volatile dynamics of conflict and war on the ground? I argue that responsibility should be the anchor while working with marginalized groups. Responsibility helps to transcend the the insider/outsider dilemma and enables to focus more on the experiences of vulnerability by adopting a people-centered, consistent, and compassionate attitude that pays respect to people’s conditions and takes emotions – both those of the participants and those of the researcher – seriously as part of the data collected. This article adds to the scholarship in qualitative research methods, specifically on positionality, ethics and vulnerability in conflict zones.
