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Paper short abstract

Researching sensitive topics in polarised and/or restricted political spaces requires careful reflexive practice on the part of the researcher. This article critically examines how positionality is co-constructed between researchers and research participants and reflects on ensuing ethical dilemmas.

Paper long abstract

Researching sensitive topics in polarised and/or restricted political spaces requires careful reflexive practice on the part of the researcher. We have to assess how our positionality shapes the research and its findings, ensure ethical practice and methodological rigor. While the frequent use of the singular in the noun ‘positionality’ might suggest otherwise, the positionality of a researcher is not fixed. Our fieldwork identities are multi-layered and as researchers we have multiple – and at times conflicting – actual and perceived roles in the field; part of them we choose, many of them our research participants attribute. Drawing on over 30 months of ethnographic fieldwork on state – society relations, urban conflict and environmental rights in Ethiopia, this article unpacks ‘reflexivity in practice’ from the perspective of two researchers, one black Ethiopian male and one white French female national. It critically examines how positionality is co-constructed between researchers and research participants and reflects on ensuing ethical dilemmas.