White women speak,black women write: the politics of locution and location in the other researching the not other |
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Authors: | Venitha Pillay |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Education Management and Policy Studies , University of Pretoria , Pretoria 0002, South Africa vpillay@up.ac.za |
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Abstract: | This paper scrutinizes a rare methodological moment when I found myself, an unseasoned black woman scholar, researching the lives of three white women. In this reflective process, I make a single point: that the locution of race is limiting if it persists in being a point of struggle for marginalized scholars. In so doing, I distinguish between race as the site of intellectual engagement and race as a point from which to engage in scholarship. I begin with a brief explanation of how I came to take the decision to research three white women and of (dis)locating myself as other to the respondents. I then examine my actions in the context of concerns raised by other black scholars in their engagement with the academic establishment. Finally, I draw on the works of feminist scholars and argue that politicized and strategic understandings of otherness can potentially create challenging means for intellectual activism. |
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Keywords: | (dis)location otherness race academic activism feminist scholarship methodology self |
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