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Personal, relational and intimate geographies of austerity: ethical and empirical considerations
Author(s) -
Hall Sarah Marie
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
area
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1475-4762
pISSN - 0004-0894
DOI - 10.1111/area.12251
Subject(s) - austerity , sociology , everyday life , context (archaeology) , narrative , environmental ethics , feminist ethics , ethics of care , public relations , political science , gender studies , politics , law , paleontology , linguistics , philosophy , biology
The impacts of austerity have permeated many aspects of everyday life in the UK, making this an important context in which to carry out social research. In this paper I consider some of the challenges that austerity poses to how we carry out research into everyday austerities and the ethical implications of researching in austere conditions. Drawing on debates from feminist and moral geographies on ethics, care and responsibility, and on first‐hand experiences of researching families in the current economic climate, I argue that the everyday mechanics of research – such as recompensing participants, and the place of the researcher – acquire particular resonance in austerity. In doing so, I also reflect on the significance of social proximity and personal biography, and the ways in which researchers may become enveloped in participants' personal narratives in addition to providing support and care. In the conclusion I identify contributions made to understandings of care and responsibility in fieldwork, the ethics of researching in and about austerity, and the relational space of the field.