Accountable to whom? Relational accountability in social research

Abstract

This paper explores research in the always already colonized spaces of academia with people in what is now the United States. In research projects, Wilson (2008) reminds us to begin with community relationships. Through ethnographic work, we trouble the idea of beginning research via local powerbrokers, who may privilege particular narratives and individuals. We offer reflections reconsidering power dynamics in community-based ethnographic studies suggesting ways to think about who research relationships are built with.