Abstract

How can researchers develop an honest and righteous relation with research participants? The author of this article explores the ethical relevance of ‘intersectional reflexivity’ in research on vulnerable social groups. Intersectional reflexivity questions the objectivity of social reality and encourages researchers to pay attention to the different ways in which their own social positioning influences their research. Drawing on her own ethnographic research on homophobic violence in Brussels, the author proposes a number of tools that might foster the methodological application of ‘thick intersectionality’ in social science research. Such an application implies, among other things, that researchers pay more attention to multiple and changing forms of inequality that might characterize and influence the relationship between researcher and participants throughout different phases of the research project. The implementation of ‘thick intersectionality’ would consequently allow scholars to generate more reliable research results and to expose power relations that are inherent to the research process.

How to Cite:

Huysentruyt, H., (2016) “Intersectionele reflexiviteit: een antwoord op ethische vraagstukken?”, Sociologos 37(1), 34–44. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/sociologos.86903