Between Boundaries
Reflexivity of Discomfort With ‘Significant Other’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20103209 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Abdullah Al Zubaer Evans (0000-0002-0137-7585, School of Global, Urban and Social Studies RMIT University Melbourne Victoria Australia, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Publication date | 2026-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Area (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0004-0894 • E-ISSN: 1475-4762 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/area.70128 |
| OpenAlex | W7163548886 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 37 |
This article explores the complexities of my reflexive ethnography, stemming from my shifting subjectivities as a researcher. Drawing on the notion of discomfort, I delve into my contested positionality, situated in the nexus of underlying political and historical forces. My multilayered identity—both as an insider due to my national and religious identity and as an outsider for my ethnicity—constructs a liminal space for me as a Bengali researcher researching the Bihari minorities in Bangladesh. Drawing on my epistemological and personal encounters with the research context, I engage in a critical dialogue with the discourse of reflexive ethnography regarding power dynamics among researchers, participants, and the context. I explore the fluidity of boundary‐making by conceptualising ‘significant otherness’ as a relationship marked by distance and proximity between the researcher and the researched. I resonate with the critique that the use of reflexivity is often reduced to validating data and familiarising the unfamiliar instead of challenging the status quo. Therefore, this paper does not promise any definite, comfortable answer but aims to provoke uncomfortable thoughts while practising reflexive positionality in the context of multivocal research
Context (archaeology) · Ethnography · Identity (music) · Insider · Liminality · Nexus (standard) · Politics · Power (physics) · Reflexivity · Situated · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Bangladesh Politics, Society, and Development · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics
Researching an-'other' minority ethnic community
A critical self-reflexive account of a privileged researcher in a complicated setting
Doing Research in Cultural Studies
Peripheral Positionality
Muslim researcher researching Muslim youth
Awaiting a new dawn in Bangladesh
Writing culture; inscribing lives
Researching 'my people,' researching myself
Insider-outsider-inbetweener? Researcher positioning, participative methods and cross-cultural educational research
Biharis in Bangladesh and Their Restricted Access to Citizenship Rights
Ideas, Interests, and Institutions
Unsettling the Settler Within
Political Correctness
Navigating the ‘field
From an urban country to urbanCountry
An Artificial Minority
Rejected People in Bangladesh
Being" Native versus "Going Native
Confession, catharsis, or cure? Rethinking the uses of reflexivity as methodological power in qualitative research
Power and positionality
Practising reflexivity
How Native Is a "Native" Anthropologist
Researcher Positionality
Outsider From Within, Insider From Without
Now I see it, now I don't
Ethnographic toolkit
Methodological Impression Management in Ethnographic Research
Insiders and Outsiders
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |