TY - JOUR
T1 - Transcending objectivism, subjectivism, and the knowledge in-between
T2 - The subject in/of ‘strong reflexivity’
AU - Hamati-Ataya, Inanna
N1 - Hamati-Ataya, I. (2014). Transcending objectivism, subjectivism, and the knowledge in-between: the subject in/of 'strong reflexivity'. Review of International Studies, 40 (1), 153-175
PY - 2013/4/23
Y1 - 2013/4/23
N2 - This article addresses the problematique of the subject and the subject-object dichotomy from a post-objectivist, reflexivist perspective informed by a 'strong' version of reflexivity. It clarifies the rationale and epistemic-ontological requirements of strong reflexivity comparatively, through a discussion of autoethnography and autobiography, taken as representatives of other variants of reflexive scholarship. By deconstructing the ontological, epistemic, and reflexive statuses of the subject in the auto-ethnographic and auto-biographical variants, the article shows that the move from objectivism to post-objectivism can entail different reconfigurations of the subject-object relation, some of which can lead to subjectivism or an implicit positivist view of the subject. Strong reflexivity provides a coherent and empowering critique of objectivism because it consistently turns the ontological fact of the social situatedness of knowledge into an epistemic principle of social-scientific research, thereby providing reflexivist scholars with a critique of objectivism from within that allows them to reclaim the philosophical, social, and ethical dimensions of objectivity rather than surrender them to the dominant neopositivist tradition.
AB - This article addresses the problematique of the subject and the subject-object dichotomy from a post-objectivist, reflexivist perspective informed by a 'strong' version of reflexivity. It clarifies the rationale and epistemic-ontological requirements of strong reflexivity comparatively, through a discussion of autoethnography and autobiography, taken as representatives of other variants of reflexive scholarship. By deconstructing the ontological, epistemic, and reflexive statuses of the subject in the auto-ethnographic and auto-biographical variants, the article shows that the move from objectivism to post-objectivism can entail different reconfigurations of the subject-object relation, some of which can lead to subjectivism or an implicit positivist view of the subject. Strong reflexivity provides a coherent and empowering critique of objectivism because it consistently turns the ontological fact of the social situatedness of knowledge into an epistemic principle of social-scientific research, thereby providing reflexivist scholars with a critique of objectivism from within that allows them to reclaim the philosophical, social, and ethical dimensions of objectivity rather than surrender them to the dominant neopositivist tradition.
KW - INTERNATIONAL-RELATIONS THEORY
KW - AUTOETHNOGRAPHY
KW - CONSTRUCTIVISM
KW - AUTOBIOGRAPHY
KW - SELF
UR - http://hdl.handle.net/2160/26743
U2 - 10.1017/S0260210513000041
DO - 10.1017/S0260210513000041
M3 - Article
SN - 0260-2105
VL - 40
SP - 153
EP - 175
JO - Review of International Studies
JF - Review of International Studies
IS - 1
ER -