Disclosing Otherness: Situated Knowledges and the Politics of Ethnographic Approaches to the #WeAreNotWaiting Movement in Type 1 Diabetes and Beyond

Abstract

In this article, I reflect on my empirical engagement in the global (digital) health movement #WeAreNotWaiting in the context of Type 1 Diabetes. I want to take my relationships and interactions in this community as a starting point to discuss the multifacetedness of doing ethnographic research in health-political activist communities while not being affected by the health conditions the research participants are affected by and not sharing their explicit personal-political aim. Building on Donna Haraway’s conceptualization of situated knowledge and Kim TallBear’s notion of ethics of accountability, I empirically retrace three accounts of disclosing otherness in my empirical engagement that were generative for my understanding of the movement. I suggest that the moments where one needs to explain oneself, where one is met with skepticism, or experiences tensions, might be uncomfortable and challenging but can be generative. To engage with them can contribute to the accountability of the ethnographer.