Writing about Migration: Methodological Dilemmas and Possibilities

• In Event: Methodological Reworlding: Working through (De)Colonial Entanglements

Abstract

Objectives or Purposes
The contemporary world has witnessed renewed migrations across national and international borders, often triggered by war, invasion, economic instability, and political upheavals. These displacements have deeply impacted already vulnerable populations seeking economic opportunity, safety from persecution, or family reunification. This contemporary “ethnoscape” (Appadurai, 1996), shaped by international and state-sponsored politics and contested by migrant subjects, calls into question how research methods are conceptualized and practiced in fieldwork. At the macro level, questions of empire and neo/colonialism become essential in rethinking methodological frameworks. At the micro level, field-based research with migrant communities requires urgent ethical and political reflection, especially as the broader legitimacy and impact of research is increasingly scrutinized. This is particularly critical in contexts where researchers engage with migrants from the Global South, including within marginalized spaces in the U.S. This paper examines Bhutanese place-making practices in a Midwestern U.S. city and asks: How do we name this moment in qualitative educational research? What ethical and political stakes arise when working with—and writing about—immigrant and refugee communities?
Perspective(s) or Theoretical Framework
This paper draws on decolonizing methodologies (Smith, 1999; Shahjahan & Kezar, 2013) to argue for research that centers on immigrant and refugee struggles to belong and reclaim citizenship (Espiritu, 2006). It insists that questions of method cannot be divorced from global and local politics. In the U.S., amid ongoing debates around travel bans, deportations, support for Israel, and the Mexico–U.S. border wall, immigrant communities face what Abu El-Haj (2007) describes as “unsettled belonging.” These include state surveillance, racial profiling, and denial of due process. Refugees, unlike many middle-class neoliberal migrants, face compounded challenges due to linguistic, cultural, and educational barriers (Nguyen, 2023). This paper considers how research writing can ethically account for these racialized and politically charged landscapes, and how refugee subjects speak—or remain silent—about belonging in the U.S.
Methods, Data Sources, Techniques, or Modes of Inquiry
Using a decolonial qualitative framework (Bhattacharya, 2021; Rhee, 2021), this four-year study explores how eight Bhutanese adult men reimagined place and belonging in contexts where they were neither desired nor welcomed. By recognizing the cultural context of the research, data collection included semi-structured interviews, document analysis, and observations were conducted within homes and community spaces (Lor & Bowers, 2018). The methods of research sought to engage with broader call to decolonize research methodologies and methods of research, and the need to transform what it means to write about marginalized communities (Nguyen, 2023; Tuck, 2009)
Results and/or Substantiated Conclusions
The study highlights: (1) the need to account for both global histories and anti-immigrant U.S. narratives in shaping research methods; (2) the urgency of ethical representation that reflects the complexity of refugee experiences; (3) the importance of considering community responses to research; and (4) the potential of research writing to inform policy change. These findings call for educational research methodologies that honor multilingual and non-standard English voices, and challenge dominant academic norms to make space for refugee narratives and knowledge practices.

Author

• Binaya Subedi, The Ohio State University