Transcending objectivism, subjectivism, and the knowledge in-between: the subject in/of ‘strong reflexivity’

This article addresses the problématique 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 di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inReview of international studies Vol. 40; no. 1; pp. 153 - 175
Main Author HAMATI-ATAYA, INANNA
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 01.01.2014
Subjects
Autobiographies
Autoethnography
Discipline
Empiricism
Epistemology
Ethics
Ethnography
Feminism
Feminist standpoint theory
Intellectuals
International relations
International studies
Knowledge
Objectivity
Ontology
Philosophical subject
Philosophy
Reflexivity
Scholarship
Social reflexivity
Social research
Social sciences
Sociology
Subjectivity
Tradition
Writing processes
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Summary:This article addresses the problématique 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.
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ISSN:0260-2105
1469-9044
DOI:10.1017/S0260210513000041