DOCUMENT RESUME ED 376 011 RC 019 857 AUTHOR Gitlin, Andrew, Ed. TITLE Power and Method: Political Activism and Educational Research. Critical Social Thought Series. REPORT NO ISBN-0-415-90690-3 PUB DATE 94 NOTE 251p. AVAILABLE FROMRoutledge, 29 W. 35th St., New York, NY 10001. PUB TYPE Books (010) Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC11 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS *Activism; American Indian Education; Black Education; *Critical Theory; Criticism; *Educational Research; Elementary Secondary Education; *Feminism; Hidden Curriculum; Higher Education; Homosexuality; Politics of Education; Fower Structure; Researchers; Research Methodology; *Research PrOblems IDENTIFIERS Critical Inquiry; *Empowerment; Politics of Research; *Researcher Subject Relationship ABSTRACT This book scrutinizes some basic assumptions about educational research with the aim that such research may act more powerfully on those persistent and important problems of our schools surrounding issues of race, class, and gender. In particular, the 13 essays in this book examine how power is infused in research by addressing such questions as what role political activism can play in the research process, how to understand the "other" from an insider's point of view, and whether educational research can confront and act upon oppressive structures such as patriarchy and Eurocentrism. Feminist, gay and lesbian, Black, and American Indian perspectives and responses to those perspectives are offered in the following essays:(1) "Dis-stance and Other Stances: Negotiations of Power inside Feminist Research" (M. Fine);(2) "Fertile Obsession: Validity after Poststructuralism" (P. Lather);(3) "When Method Becomes Power" (D. Patai);(4) "Queer Relations with Educational Research" (G. M. Leek);(5) "On Method and Hope" (W. G. Tierney);(6) "Red Ribbons at the Cracker Barrel" (R. Platizky);(7) "The Power To Know One Thing Is Never the Power To Know All Things: Methodological Notes on Two Studies of Black American Teachers" (M. Foster); (8) "Witchcraft and Blessings, Science and Rationality: Discourses of Power and Silence in Collaborative Work with Navajo Schools" (M. D. LeCompte and D. McLaughlin);(9) "Empowering the Culturally Diversified Sociological Voice" (J. H. Stanfield, II);(10) "Alternative Methodologies and the Research Context" (A. Gitlin and R. Russell); (11) "Distance and Relation Reconsidered: Tensions in the Ethnographic Text" (D. Dippo); (12) "Expanding Our Notions of 'Critical Qualitative Methodology': Bringing Race, Class, and Gender into the Discussion" (L. Lamphere); and (13) "Extending Power and Specifying Method within the Discourse of Activist Research" (J. G. Ladwig and J. M. Gore). This book contains author profiles and an index.(SV) e- MEM CD Cf) P A A CI ul U 1 DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION PERMISSION TO REPRODUCETHIS Office of Eclutat,on, Pssafch na Improvement BY MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) /Tresclocumat ems been reproduced as .5-/-, 7494 rectped Iron the person Or ofgeo.tilOon Ooonaling .1 C Manor changes nave been 'nude to onorove ,01,,Oduct.on aoidy Points of view or ocamons stated., tr.sdOCu TO THE EDUCATIONALRESOURCES men' [SO not ,cesardy represent othc,at INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) OERI Pos.hoe O. POI.CY p p BEST COPY AVAILABLE 1 POWER AND METHOD Critical Social Thought Series editor: Michael W. Apple John Bascom Professor of Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Policy Studies, Ul.,versity of Wisconsin-Madison Already published Critical Social Psychology Philip Wexler Reading, Writing and Resistance Robert B. Everhart Arguing for Socialism Andrew Levine Between Two Worlds Lois Weis Porter and the Promise of School Reform William J. Reese Becoming Clerical Workers Linda Valli Racial Formation in the United States Michael Omi and Howard Winant The Politics of Hope Bernard P. Dauenhauer The Common Good Marcus G. Raskin Contradictions of Control Linda M. McNeil Social Analysis of Education Philip Wexler Keeping Them Out of the Hands of Satan Susan D. Rose Primary Understanding Kieran Egan Working Class Without Work Lois Weis Capitalist Schools Daniel P. Liston The New Literacy John Willinsky Becoming a Woman Through Romance Linda Christian-Smith Growing Up Modern Bruce Fuller Getting Smart Patti Lather Teacher Education and the Social Conditions of Schooling Daniel P. Liston and Kenneth M. Zeichner Teachers and Crisis Dennis Carlson Views Beyond the Border (Country Dennis L. Dworkin and Leslie G. Roman (eds) I Answer With My Life Kathleen Casey Japan and the Pursuit of a New American Identity Walter Feinberg Race, Identity and Representation in Education Cameron McCarthy and Warren Crichlow (eds) Doing Sex Education Bonnie Nelson Trudell Public Schools That Work Gregory A. Smith (ed) 4 posy -R AND METHOD POLITICAL ACTIVISM AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH EDITED BY ANDREW GITLIN LEDGE New York Loudon Published in 1994 by Routledge 29 West 3.5 Street New York, NY 10001 Published in Great Britain by Routledge 1 I New Fetter I.ane London EC4P 4FF Copyright F' 1994 by Rout ledge Printed in the United States of America on acid-freepaper. All rights reserved. Ni, part of this hook may he reprintedor reproduced or utilized in any form n- by any electronic, mechanical or other means. now known or hereafter invented, au:biding photocopying and recording, or inany information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Power and method:political activism and educational research / Andrew Gitlin, editor. p. cm. (Critical social thought) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0.415-906139.X(hb) ISBN 0-415-90690.3(ph) I. EducationResearchMethodology.2. EducationResearch Political aspects. 3. Critical pedagogyResearch.4. Feminism and educationResearch. I.Gitlin, Andrew David.II. Series. 1.111028.P565 1994 370Y.78dc20 93.15749 CIP British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data also available. CONTENTS Acknowledgments vii Series Editor's Introduction ix Michael W. Apple INTRODUCTION The Shirdng Terrain of Methodological Debates Andiew Gitlin SECTION ONE: PERSPECTIVES ON POWERAND METHOD Feminist Dis-stance and Other Stances: Negotiations of Power Inside Feminist Research 13 Michelle Fine Fertile Obsession: Validity After Poststructuralism 36 Patti Lather (Response) When Method Becomes Power 61 Daphne Patai Gay and Lesbian Queer Relations With Educational Research 77 Glorianne M. Leek On Method and Hope 97 William G. Tierney (Response) Red Ribbons at the Cracker Barrel 116 Roger Platizky Cultural The Power to Know One Thing Is Never the Power toKnow all Things: Methodological Notes on Two Studies ti Black American Teachers I2Q Michele Foster v VI/ CONTENTS Witchcraft and Blessings, Science and Rationality: Discourses of Power and Silence in Collaborative Work with Navajo Schools 147 Margaret D. LeCompte and Daniel McLaughlin (Response) Empowering the Culturally Diversified Sociological Voice 166 John H. Stanfield, II SECTION TWO: POWER AND METHOD IN CONTEXT Relationships Within Qualitative Research Alternative Methodologies and the Research Context 181 Andrew Gitlin and Robyn Russell Distance and Relation Reconsidered: Tensions in the Ethnographic Text 203 Don Dippo (Response) Expanding Our Notions of "Critical Qualitative Methodology": Bringing Race, Class, and Gender into the Discussion 217 Louise Lamphere SECTION THREE: POWER AND METHOD REVISITED Extending Power and Specifying Method Within the Discourse of Activist Research 227 James G. Ladwig and Jennifer M. Gore Index 239 Contributors 245 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Volumes such as this often reflect ongoing discussions andrelationships that have taken place over a long period of time. Several people atthe University of Utah have taken part in these discussions and,through their ideas, criticisms, and support, have shaped the nature ofthis project. I would especially like to thank Donna Dcyhle, Harvey Kantor, FrankMargonis, and Audrey Thompson. Perhaps our greatest thanks needs to go to the progressivestudents, educa- tors, and political activists whohave suggested that academics need not only to produce new knowledge but also to make adifference in the world In particular, feminist scholars have created a space forhooks like Power and Method by focusing our attention on the researched"subject" relation- ship and by raising questions about the link betweenunderstanding and change. These scholars and many others workingoutside the educational arena have provided a forum todiscuss further ideas on educational research We want also to give special thanks to Michael Apple,the series editor, and Jayne Fargnoli of Rout ledge, who have given us criticalfeedback, editorial suggestions, and encouragement. Robyn Turner'sendless patience and in- sight also was essential to the completion of this project. An earlier version of Patti Lather's chapter, "FertileObsession: Validity After Poststructuralism" was published in theSociological Quarterly (1993) 34 (4): 673-93. vii 9 SERIES EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION Power and Method is an unsettling hook. Usually this word unsettling has negative connotations. It speaks of nervousness, the loss of certainty, feelings of discomfort. Yet, while each of these descriptions is accurate as far as it goes, I use the word, and these descriptions, in a much more positive way. Certain things need to he unsettled, need to beshaken. For those of us in education, among the most importantassumptions that deserve to be "unsettled" is the