Situating Non-Western Philosophies in Western Research Spaces: Considering the Tensions Within Autoethnography

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable 9:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Applied Perspectives on Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism in Education (Table 15)

Abstract

In this paper, my purpose is to interrogate the idea of the “Self,” specifically in Western research contexts, where the researcher’s worldview might differ from the Western individualistic approach. For researchers oriented towards or originating from non-Western philosophical traditions, what might be the implications of using a Western research methodology such as auto-ethnography? What does the auto-, the reflexive self, point to if we want to seriously engage in grappling with the idea of no-self as is found in Eastern thought? Is there a possibility of engaging in auto-ethnography while decentering the self? These are the questions I explore in this conceptual/methodological paper through a set of narratives, Eastern philosophy, and blended methodology.

Author

• Marina Basu, Arizona State University