Living Insider Positionality with Co-ethnics in Everyday Life

Abstract

In this article I reflect on how I was perceived by members of my own ethnic community in Pretoria, South Africa, in everyday interactions. In these interactions, I was viewed as an integral part of the community, rather than a detached academic. I employ the theory of community researcher and the theory of the everyday to frame my experiences and my argument. Recent debates on insider/outsider positionalities conceptualize co-ethnic migrant researchers as situational insiders. Drawing on my lived experiences, however, I argue that my insiderness has been consistently embraced by my co-ethnics. To establish strong rapport with members of their co-ethnics, migrant researchers need to maintain close social contact, informality and casualness, in their everyday interactions to enhance their positionality as trusted insiders during future actual research encounters. This study contributes to theoretical understandings of migration studies and researcher positionalities.