Stepping Out and Returning Home: Pasts, Presents, and Futures of Plática as Methodology Opportunities

• In Event: Indigenous Methodologies and the Centering of Humility, Self-Reflection, Generosity, and Relationships

Abstract

In this paper, we conceptualize pláticas [informal gatherings] as a methodological tool for conducting research with communities. Drawing on our dissertation data and contexts, our histories, and our cultural intuition as Mexican Americans, we consider the ways in which pláticas can humanize teaching, learning, and research. We speak about the similarities and differences in the ways we used pláticas with our participants. We argue that pláticas emanate from our pasts, reveal our presents, and help us to imagine futures. Utilizing nepantla (Anzaldúa, 1987) and cultural intuition (Delgado Bernal, 1998) as our theoretical framework, we contend that the insider/outsider status we play in our research muddles the researcher/researched dichotomy and unsettles the subjective/objective binary.

Authors

• Paty Abril-Gonzalez, University of Texas at Austin

• Enrique David Degollado, University of Iowa