Moments of Discomfort: Poststructuralist Reflexivity and Researcher Subjectivity.

Abstract

This article presents poststructural reflexivity as a way to both deconstruct the performativity of one’s own research practice and consider how researcher subjectivity is constituted within the research process. I present two vignettes as moments of discomfort conducting research ‘in the field’ which I argue create a sense of unease when shifting subjectivities and regimes of power become more visible. I draw upon Foucauldian Discourse Analysis as a tool of poststructural reflexivity to illustrate discursive regimes through which we become gendered subjects. The article illustrates the usefulness of poststructural reflexivity as a way to consider the performative effect of research and regimes of power which impact our ways of seeing and being in the world.