Layers of honesty: Postcolonial feminism and ethical research relationships post-pandemic

Abstract

This paper builds on conversations surrounding decolonising research and feminist research ethics to reflect on the ways in which researchers can take a more ethical approach to research partnerships in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on principles of postcolonial feminist ethnography, it is proposed that researchers should (1) reflect on their own motivations behind their research in order to (2) understand the balance of power within research relationships through continual reflexivity and (3) ensure that a collaborative methodology is used to the extent possible and that appropriate methods are chosen to challenge uneven balances of power in research relationships. Researchers must commit to ethical changes as individuals in order to break down power imbalances in research relationships and support the decolonisation of research. The magnitude of this change is acknowledged, but the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that we are capable of change on a scale we previously thought impossible.