"We Don't See Things as They Are, We See Things as We Are": Questioning the "Outsider" in Polish Migration Research

Botterill, Katherine

Abstract

This article offers a reflexive account of conducting research on Polish migration to Scotland from the perspective of the "outsider." The contribution argues for a revision to the insider/outsider dichotomy viewing it as inadequately nuanced in relation to the multiple intersectionalities performed through the research encounter. It is based on data collected from biographical-narrative interviews with Polish young people living in Edinburgh, Scotland. The article explores the interview encounter between an English researcher and Polish young people about the experience of EU mobility and argues that as migration narratives unfold the distinctions between the "researcher" and the "researched" blur. In particular, I focus on the intersections of gender, class and nationality to show how different positionalities are negotiated and confronted through reflexivity. The interview is a creative process involving co-construction of narratives through dialogue, embodied performances and non-cognitive associations that draw out the multiple intersectionalities of both parties. Through this process the binary of insider/outsider is called into question and this article examines the usefulness of this dichotomy as a framework for understanding the research relationship.

Citation

Botterill, K. (2015). "We Don't See Things as They Are, We See Things as We Are": Questioning the "Outsider" in Polish Migration Research. Forum: Qualitative Social Research / Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 16(2),

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 1, 2014
• Publication Date: 2015
• Deposit Date: Dec 14, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 14, 2016
• Journal: Forum: Qualitative Social Research/ Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung
• Publisher: Institut für Qualitative Forschung
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 2
• Keywords: insider/outsider research; polish migration; intersectionality; gender; biographical narrative interviews; psychoanalytic geographies
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/454206
• Related Public URLs: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs150249.