An Ethics of Care for Social Science Historical Research

Laxana Paskaran, York University

This paper examines the possibilities for rereading historical sources in ways that transcend colonial narratives through the use of feminist theoretical frameworks and methodologies. This paper facilitates a dialogue between feminist scholarship and historical research practices in ways that remain critical about the role of the researcher to the research, communities, and participants. I argue that revisiting different approaches to oral interview methods and exploring feminist methodologies, such as participatory action research (PAR), for historical research are strategies that help unveil alternative historical perspectives and understandings of economic and social processes. Further, historians may draw from feminist methodologies, which embrace an ethics of care, to invite participants and communities to remain involved in shaping historical research. Thus, this paper is a living document that reflects on my research journey and my approach to feminist research methodologies. My doctoral research, which explores Tamil immigrant/refugee women’s labour market participation in Toronto suburbs from 1975 to present, serves as the basis for this dialogue between feminist research methodologies and historical research. As such, this paper centers the principles of responsibility, social interconnectedness and collaboration to examine how historians can build relationships, trust and reciprocity with communities included in their scholarship. I include reflections from feminist scholars on oral interview methods with racialized women and marginalized communities and a discussion of the contributions of PAR to rereading historical sources. Incorporating an ethics of care into our research as historians involves labour that extends beyond the time we spend conducting research, embracing the personal, and staying in touch with participants after completing the research project. An ongoing relationship remains a crucial part of collaboration in feminist research methodologies, allowing for both the researcher and participant to enter and inform the research.

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 Presented in Session 171. Ethics of Care, Gender, Environment, and Labor