‘Practices of representation always implicate the positions from which we speak or write’ Stuart Hall (1990, p.222).
I had taken elements of my personal positionality into account in designing the research vehicle, reflecting on embedded advantages of being white, and therefore not experiencing the discomfort of being racially minoritised in an arts institution (Jones, 2024) or while researching the effects of exclusion in resources, and also on perceptions of authority and gatekeeper status in librarianship (Bell, 2017). Bilgen et al. (2021) assert that ‘the white colonial gaze … imprints itself on … the researcher’, however this shouldn’t preclude white researchers and educators from actively contributing to equity. Lenette’s watchwords of ‘cultural safety’ (2022) helped me to navigate an approach that recognised burden and potential bias.
Nichols and Stahl (2019) call on ‘higher education’s purpose… requiring that inequities be actively challenged’ giving clarity to the active intent and potential for impact and change set out in the project, particularly where the institution’s expectations are so clearly stated (UAL 2021). Bilgen et al. argue that ‘reflexivity in research processes can serve as a tool to dismantle embedded power hierarchies’, through ‘knowledge co-construction’ (2021). Having missed the opportunity to do a larger scale student-facing collaboration, and with awareness of my own positionality, I hope that I can capture a listening, collaborative action-research approach in how I interpret student voice in my analysis; disrupting some of the hierarchy of choosing which materials to promote and where.
While meta and meso elements of personal positionality don’t often shift; such as race, gender, social class, physical abilities; experiences such as research and learning are position-shifting on a micro level. Not only through the knowledge gained but also though the relationships and networks formed, including a refreshed relationship with students. Teaching and pedagogy are now more present in the spectrum of my positionality, as is a broader awareness of meaningful inclusivities.
‘Meaning continues to unfold, so to speak, beyond the arbitrary closure which makes it, at any moment, possible.’ Stuart Hall (1990, p.230).
References
Bell, S. (2017) ‘From gatekeepers to gate-openers: designing meaningful library experiences’, American libraries, 40 (8/9), pp. 51–53.
doi: doi.org/10.17613/M6VB6M
Bilgen, A., Nasirb, A. and Schönebergc, J. (2021) ‘Why positionalities matter: reflections on power, hierarchy, and knowledges in “development” research’, Canadian journal of development studies, 42 (4), pp. 519–536.
doi: doi.org/10.1080/02255189.2021.1871593
Hall, S. (1990) ‘Cultural Identity and Diaspora’, in J. Rutherford (ed.) Identity, community, culture, difference. London: Lawrance & Wishart, pp. 222-237.
Jones, I. (2024) ‘From object to objectified: the ongoing precarity of Black bodies in institutional spaces’, Art, Design & Communication in Higher Education, 23(1), pp. 57–68. doi: doi.org/10.1386/adch_00084_1.
Lenette, C. (2022) ‘Cultural safety in participatory arts-based research: how can we do better?’, Journal of Participatory Research Methods, 3 (1).
doi: doi.org/10.35844/001c.32606
Nichols, S. and Stahl, G. (2019) ‘Intersectionality in higher education research: a systematic literature review’, Higher Education Research & Development, 38 (6), pp. 1255-1268.
doi: doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2019.1638348
UAL (2021) UAL anti-racism action plan summary. Available at www.arts.ac.uk/about-ual/strategy-and-governance/anti-racism-strategy (accessed on 29/12/2025).