The Possibilities of Critical Family Inquiry
Format Type
Plenary
Format Type
Paper
Start Date
13-1-2021 2:00 PM
End Date
13-1-2021 2:20 PM
Abstract
This presentation explores the methodological possibilities and complexities of undertaking inquiries with, on, or through our own family members through a critical stance. There exists a long, eclectic history of inquiries involving family members that reflect diverse methodologies ranging from biography, autoethnography, narrative inquiry, to arts-based projects (see Bailey & Norquay, 2017/2018). Bud Goodall's classic narrative inquiry into his father's secretive career (A Need to Know), for example, underscores the rich potential of studies that focus on a family figure, yet also reveal broader historical insights as well.
There is much methodological complexity yet to consider in this eclectic brew of investigations. In this paper, which is part of an ongoing trajectory of inquiry, I provide an overview of a diverse range of studies researchers have undertaken on/about their own family members, their approaches, and their purposes. The works include critical studies into the contemporary reverberations of racist policies that shaped the author's inheritance of land to a writer's group biography of her famous uncles. I then detail a series of critical issues for researchers to consider in undertaking family inquiry. These include questions about what constitutes "family," the researchers' relation to the subject of inquiry, their theoretical investments, and the broader significance of the inquiry, among others. I argue that we must pause and ponder the complex forces that saturate "family" in research to resist simplistic hagiography or demonization, and to take seriously how "family" can be a generative site in inquiry relevant to others outside our family circles.
Keywords
family, methodology, critical inquiry
ORCID ID
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1187-200X
The Possibilities of Critical Family Inquiry
This presentation explores the methodological possibilities and complexities of undertaking inquiries with, on, or through our own family members through a critical stance. There exists a long, eclectic history of inquiries involving family members that reflect diverse methodologies ranging from biography, autoethnography, narrative inquiry, to arts-based projects (see Bailey & Norquay, 2017/2018). Bud Goodall's classic narrative inquiry into his father's secretive career (A Need to Know), for example, underscores the rich potential of studies that focus on a family figure, yet also reveal broader historical insights as well.
There is much methodological complexity yet to consider in this eclectic brew of investigations. In this paper, which is part of an ongoing trajectory of inquiry, I provide an overview of a diverse range of studies researchers have undertaken on/about their own family members, their approaches, and their purposes. The works include critical studies into the contemporary reverberations of racist policies that shaped the author's inheritance of land to a writer's group biography of her famous uncles. I then detail a series of critical issues for researchers to consider in undertaking family inquiry. These include questions about what constitutes "family," the researchers' relation to the subject of inquiry, their theoretical investments, and the broader significance of the inquiry, among others. I argue that we must pause and ponder the complex forces that saturate "family" in research to resist simplistic hagiography or demonization, and to take seriously how "family" can be a generative site in inquiry relevant to others outside our family circles.