Chapter 1: Identity, Positionality, and Power
Dani Dilkes, Ashley McKeown, Marguerite Lengyell, Britney Glasgow-Osment, and Zoe Leyland
NOTE: This chapter has been adapted from Dilkes, D., Leyland, Z., & McKeown, A. (2023). Reflective understanding: Identity, Power and Positionality in Research. Licensed under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International creative common license.
Learning Objectives
By the end of the chapter, learners will be able to:
- Critically examine your own social identity
- Recognize that social identity or identities shape(s) the way you think about others
- Reflect on how social and professional positionality shapes your perception of the world, how society perceives you and your ability to participate in the world
- Examine your own implicit biases and how they shape the way you approach professional practice and seek and produce knowledge.
Introduction
Before we can begin practicing knowledge justice, we need to look inward toward ourselves. Each of us moves through the world shaped by our social location; the intersecting aspects of identity such as race, gender, class, and ability. These identities influence not only how we see and experience the world, but also what we understand as knowledge and whose voices we consider credible and trustworthy. Without critically reflecting on our own positionality, we risk being blinded to, or even silencing, the perspectives that are missing from dominant systems of knowledge.
This chapter invites you to reflect on your own social identities, values, and experiences of power, privilege, and oppression. You’ll explore how your beliefs and preferred ways of knowing shape what you recognize as credible knowledge and who you view as a credible knower. We will also introduce the concept of intersectionality, which helps us see how overlapping identities create unique experiences of both privilege or oppression.
This work requires honesty and deep introspection. That’s why Chapter 1 includes self-reflection exercises to help you notice your assumptions and name the ways your identities and experiences shape your worldview. In Chapter 2, you’ll be asked to apply this lens outward, considering how knowledge is constructed and represented in textbooks, research, media, and other sources you encounter in your professional education.
To begin your knowledge justice journey, ask yourself: How do I view my own ideas? Do I see myself as an expert? Is my lived experience a valid and important source of knowledge? Chapter 1 helps you wrestle with these questions, guiding you to recognize how your social location shapes what knowledge you prioritize, value, and trust.
