Beyond Binaries

Relational Reflexivity and the Fluidity of Positionality in Feminist Fieldwork

Bibliographic Data

ID19479136
AuthorsYemisi L Sloane (0000-0002-6757-9331, Anglia Ruskin University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume25
Publication date2026-01-19
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Qualitative Methods (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1609-4069 • E-ISSN: 1609-4069
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/16094069261458136
OpenAlexW7163716784
LanguageEN
References cited69

This paper critically examines the shifting nature of researcher positionality in feminist fieldwork through comparative reflections on two studies conducted in West Africa and the United Kingdom. It explores how identity, power and belonging intersect to shape access, trust and meaning-making across both digital and embodied research spaces. Drawing on transnational feminist, decolonial and Black feminist frameworks, I argue that positionality is neither fixed nor binary but relational, contingent and continuously negotiated through encounters with both vulnerability and power. By situating myself within, rather than above the research encounters, I engage decolonial feminist reflexivity as a methodological stance that resists extractive knowledge practices and affirms the co-production of meaning with participants. This involves the continual revisiting of assumptions, emotions and interpretations as they evolve through relationships formed in the field. Within this context, positionality becomes a shifting relational site where connection and disconnection coexist, producing both access and constraint within the research space. By framing reflexivity as a continuous ethical practice, this paper positions trust-building and relational ethics of care as core methodological commitments rather than procedural tools. Finally, it cautions against performative reflexivity, advocating instead for relational practices rooted in ethical integrity and accountability throughout the research process

Accountability · Ethnography · Feminism · Framing (construction) · Intersectionality · Lived experience · Performative utterance · Power (physics) · Reflexivity · Situated · Focus Groups and Qualitative Methods · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access