Queer Methods and Methodologies Queer Theories Intersecting and Social Science Research
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Queer Methods and Queer Methods and Methodologies Methodologies provides the first systematic consideration of the implications of a queer perspective in the pursuit of social scientific research. This volume grapples with key contemporary questions regarding the methodological implications for social science research undertaken from diverse queer perspectives, and explores the limitations and potentials of queer engagements with social science research techniques and methodologies. With contributors based in the UK, USA, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia, this truly Queer Methods international volume will appeal to anyone pursuing research at the and Methodologies intersections between social scientific research and queer perspectives, as well as those engaging with methodological Intersecting considerations in social science research more broadly. Queer Theories This superb collection shows the value of thinking concretely about and Social Science queer methods. It demonstrates how queer studies can contribute to Research debates about research conventions as well as offer unconventional research. The book is characterised by a real commitment to queer as Edited by an intersectional study, showing how sex, gender and sexuality Kath Browne, intersect with class, race, ethnicity, national identity and age. Readers will get a real sense of what you can write in by not writing University of Brighton, UK out the messiness, difficulty and even strangeness of doing research. Catherine J. Nash, Sara Ahmed, Goldsmiths, University of London, UK Brock University, Canada Very little systematic thought has been devoted to exploring how queer ontologies and epistemologies translate into queer methods and methodologies that can be used to produce queer empirical research. This important volume fills that lacuna by providing a wide-ranging, comprehensive overview of contemporary debates and applications of queer methods and methodologies and will be essential reading for J. Nash Catherine Kath Browne and and Browne Kath researchers, from across the social sciences, interested in the praxis of queer theory. Rob Kitchin, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland Queer Methods Front cover photograph: Dr J – Absolute Queer Photography. Back cover photograph: Closed Circuit (2005), Janice Perry/Hannie Van Herk (digital imaging). and Methodologies A PDF version of this book is available for free in Open Access at www.taylorfrancis.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. Intersecting Queer Theories and Social Science Research Edited by Kath Browne and Catherine J. Nash www.routledge.com QUEER METHODS AND METHODOLOGIES Queer Methods and Methodologies Intersecting Queer Theories and Social Science Research For Donna and Katie Edited by KATH BROWNE University of Brighton, UK CATHERINE J. NASH Brock University, Canada Queer Methods and Methodologies Intersecting Queer Theories and Social Science Research For Donna and Katie Edited by KATH BROWNE University of Brighton, UK CATHERINE J. NASH Brock University, Canada First published 2010 by Ashgate Publishing Published 2016 by Routledge Contents 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Notes on Contributors vii Copyright © Kath Browne and Catherine J. Nash 2010 Acknowledgements xiii Kath Browne and Catherine J. Nash have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the editors of this work. Queer Methods and Methodologies: An Introduction 1 Kath Browne and Catherine J. Nash The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No 1 Queer in the Field: Derivatives 4.0 license. On Emotions, Temporality and Performativity in Ethnography 25 Alison Rooke Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are 2 Intimacy with Strangers/Intimacy with Self: used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Queer Experiences of Social Research 41 Jamie Heckert British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data 3 Brown, Queer and Gendered: Queer methods and methodologies : intersecting queer theories and social science research. Queering the Latina/o ‘Street-Scapes’ in Los Angeles. 55 1. Queer theory. 2. Social sciences--Research. 3. Gay and Lorena Muñoz lesbian studies. I. Browne, Kath. II. Nash, Catherine. 4 The ‘Outness’ of Queer: Class and Sexual Intersections 69 306. 7’66’072-dc22 Yvette Taylor Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 5 Queer Methods and Queer Practices: Re-examining Browne, Kath. the Identities of Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Adults 85 Queer methods and methodologies : intersecting queer theories and social science Andrew King and Ann Cronin research / by Kath Browne and Catherine J. Nash. p. cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 6 Queer(ing) Communication in Research Relationships: ISBN 978-0-7546-7843-4 -- ISBN 978-0-7546-9663-6 (ebk) A Conversation about Subjectivities, Methodologies and Ethics 97 1. Queer theory. 2. Social sciences--Research--Methodology. I. Nash, Catherine Andrew Gorman-Murray, Lynda Johnston and Gordon Waitt J. II. Title. HQ76.25.B78 2010 7 The Trouble with Fieldwork: Queering Methodologies 113 306.7601--dc22 Michael Connors Jackman 2010008468 ISBN 13: 978-0-7546-7843-4 (hbk) Contents Notes on Contributors vii Acknowledgements xiii Queer Methods and Methodologies: An Introduction 1 Kath Browne and Catherine J. Nash 1 Queer in the Field: On Emotions, Temporality and Performativity in Ethnography 25 Alison Rooke 2 Intimacy with Strangers/Intimacy with Self: Queer Experiences of Social Research 41 Jamie Heckert 3 Brown, Queer and Gendered: Queering the Latina/o ‘Street-Scapes’ in Los Angeles. 55 Lorena Muñoz 4 The ‘Outness’ of Queer: Class and Sexual Intersections 69 Yvette Taylor 5 Queer Methods and Queer Practices: Re-examining the Identities of Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual Adults 85 Andrew King and Ann Cronin 6 Queer(ing) Communication in Research Relationships: A Conversation about Subjectivities, Methodologies and Ethics 97 Andrew Gorman-Murray, Lynda Johnston and Gordon Waitt 7 The Trouble with Fieldwork: Queering Methodologies 113 Michael Connors Jackman vi Queer Methods and Methodologies 8 Queer Conversations: Old-time Lesbians, Transmen and the Politics of Queer Research 129 Catherine J. Nash Notes on Contributors 9 Femme on Femme: Reflections on Collaborative Methods and Queer Femme-inist Ethnography 143 Ulrika Dahl Tony E. Adams (Ph.D., University of South Florida) is an Assistant Professor in 10 Queer(y)ing the Ethics of Research Methods: Toward the Department of Communication, Media and Theatre at Northeastern Illinois a Politics of Intimacy in Researcher/Researched Relations 167 University. His research interests include autoethnography and life writing, the Mathias Detamore discourse of nature at zoos and aquaria, and the ways in which identities such as sex, gender, and sexuality affect human interaction. His work has appeared in journals 11 Method Matters: Ethnography and Materiality 183 such as Qualitative Inquiry, Soundings, and The Review of Communication, and Mark Graham books such as The Handbook of Critical and Interpretive Methodologies and the Encyclopedia of Identity. 12 Autoethnography is a Queer Method 195 Stacy Holman Jones and Tony E. Adams Tom Boellstorff is a Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine, and Editor-in-Chief of American 13 Queer Techne: Two Theses on Methodology and Queer Studies 215 Anthropologist, the flagship journal of the American Anthropological Tom Boellstorff Association. His research projects have focused on questions of virtual worlds, sexuality, globalization, nationalism, language and HIV/AIDS. He is the 14 Queer Quantification or Queer(y)ing Quantification: author of The Gay Archipelago: Sexuality and Nation in Indonesia (2005), A Creating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or Heterosexual Citizens Coincidence of Desires: Anthropology, Queer Studies, Indonesia (2007) and through Governmental Social Research 231 Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist Explores the Virtually Human Kath Browne (2008). He is also co-editor of Speaking in Queer Tongues: Globalization and Gay Language (2004), and the author of a number journal publications. At Irvine, he is a Core Faculty member for the Culture and Theory Ph.D. Bibliography 251 program, as well as a Program Faculty member for the Arts, Computation, Index 293 and Engineering graduate program. He sits on the advisory boards of two community-based HIV/AIDS organisations in Indonesia. Kath Browne is a Senior Lecturer in the University of Brighton. She is the co- author of Queer Spiritual Spaces and co-editor of Geographies of Sexualities: Theory, Practices and Politics. Her work spans and intersects the areas of geographies, sexualities, genders, methodologies and social engagements. In 2007 Kath was awarded the Gill Memorial Award from the Royal Geographical Society/Institute of British Geographers recognising young researchers who have shown great potential. Kath has written over 40 publications across a range of disciplines using diverse formats, and is completing the Community-University Research project Count Me In Too. Kath sat on the (UK) National Statistics Office Expert Research Group advising on the development of questions