Rebecca Lund published article in the Danish magazine Friktion
Post doc in UNIKE, Rebecca Lund, writes article about the process of engaging in feminist fieldwork and the compromises involved in committing and engaging yourself in fieldwork.
Rebecca Lund recently published an article in the Danish queer feminist magazine Friktion for gender, body and culture. The article is named “Mellem Feminisme og ond optimisme: Selvrefleksion or reproduktion i feministisk feltarbejde” [Between feminism and cruel optimism: Reflexivity and reproduction in Feminist fieldwork”].
The magazine is edited by some of the most prominent figures in the Danish gender debate and it has been setting the tone in feminist debates in Denmark and Europe on issues such as rape culture, shame culture, pro-sex feminism, reproductive rights, de-colonial feminism, feminist arts and so forth.
The special issue that Rebecca Lund's article is feature in is about ‘Conflict’. Conflict is perceived as something productive in feminist politics. It is perceived as what arises when we challenge dominant discourses, structures and norms; when we insist on exploring and telling stories of the world from perspectives that depart from those of the ruling. While conflict is never a goal in itself, it arises when minorities choose to say NO. No to be defined, no to supporting their own subordination, no to settle for the repressive conditions of inclusion. Until we reach a point when saying no stops being a source of anxiety for the majority of people the work of feminism is not done.
Read more about Rebecca Lund and her research.
In the light of this, Rebecca Lund's article analyses and questions the process of engaging in feminist fieldwork and the compromises involved in committing and engaging yourself (body, sensibilities and thoughts) fully in the ethnographic persona through a process where reflexivity remains the most important tool: A tool for living, exploring and challenging power relations in knowledge production.
In the article, Rebecca Lund explores the conflictual emotions involved in conducting feminist field work and the personal as well as structural/reproductive consequences of her own fieldwork process: A field work process defined by being carried out in her own previous academic workplace. Being simultaneously the researcher, the colleague, and the friend, Rebecca Lund explores the ethical concerns involved in such relations, in a time where neoliberal reforms and the increasingly hyper masculine culture of competitiveness and fears of the future, grow out of these relations.