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How Does Positionality Emerge? The Role of Positionality in Science Production and its History
Tue, July 14, 2:30 to 4:00pm, EICC, Floor: Level 1, Ochil Suite 2English Abstract
The complex reality of Brazilian society, its privilege and unequal social relations, portrays a kind of scientific production in its history that is important to address when thinking about the researcher’s positionality. Positionality is when the scholar explicitly or implicitly states her position in relation to the theme under investigation. It frames how the researcher’s position in social reality shapes her perceptions, thoughts, and analysis of the phenomenon. As a relatively recent phenomenon in scientific communication, the questions addressed aim to historically explore how it is possible to develop a positionality in the realm of science when a colonial history defines the notion of who we are. How can it be possible to assimilate a way of producing knowledge when it is negated from its ground for those who do not belong to the colonial heritage, while sharing the same miscingentazion roots? The current process of reframing the ground of knowledge creation and the increased access by a strata of the population that were not part of the scientific realm have shifted how positionality emerges. Decolonial theory and the efforts to decolonize science are outcomes of this process of trying to fit into a place created by different parameters and perspectives. In this work, I want to discuss the role of researchers’ positionality in shaping their gaze on how mental health theories and practices were created in Brazil. Taking the specific case of teachers’ mental health into account, I want to shed light on how scholars at different times in Brazilian history framed their attention to mental health issues and their roles in addressing teachers’ mental health and well-being. It is based on the initial project entitled “Improving theoretical perspectives in mental health and well-being from Global South ideas: the case of Brazilian teachers”.