methodology//self//conception
KEYWORDS methodology , introduction , guiding questions , Who am I? , What should Ido? , What do I want? , Who are we? , What should we do? , What do we want? ,self-conception
Starting to write this work, I would like to transparently map a personal and thesis self-conception, a self-conception that affects the selection of particular research actions, that enables me to discover and to articulate possible aims of this thesis.
In a sense the mapping of a self-conception, a methodology at last, is the result of research actions in SãoPaulo where I mainly participated in the realities of the people from the streets in the city’s centre. I caught a glimpse of the peoples struggle, the forms of organizing, the theorizing about the situation in the city and its effects on the people. A transparent mapping shall expose those experiences and the arguments for choosing particular [research] actions , methods and tools. Transparency also in order to permit the appraisal of my own subjectivity in narrations, observations and actions.
This mapping shall thus not only determine theoretical and research approaches, methods and tools, objectives and actions, but shall also address my personal conviction and standpoint that is influencing and shaping this work to a certain extend. Theoretical considerations, experiences, narrations and observations made on the streets, the definition of a self-conception, those are the fractions that I would like to consider in order to learn and to argue for the concrete constructing of the frame this thesis could be embedded in.
Departing from such a rhizomatic mapping can certainly be associated with my personal attitude that is autonomous rather than academically determined. In SãoPaulo I perceived my role as the role of an activist rather than an academic scholar. I would therefore like to arrange the tracings on my map around questions that are basically asked by social movements in order to theorize about their situation, their struggle, their resistance, their proposals.
More formally, movement theorizing consists of the processes of unofficial thought that movement activists constantlywork with – geared primarily towards the practical question’what should we do?’, but including all sorts of related questions, such as ’who are we?’, ’what do we want?’, ’whois on our side?’, ’who are they and what are they doing?’,’what can we do?’ (Barker and Cox, 2001, web)
The following guiding questions may help me to determine a methodology this work can be elaborated on. Each question exhibits two particular perspectives, from a personal standpoint and from a more general standpoint.
Who am I? Outlines the basic thesis’ self-conception and attitude which is strongly interrelated with my personal conviction. It also outlines the general thesis perspective on research actions which is mainly driven by the question of knowledge production.
What do I want? Determines the thesis objectives drawn on the proposals formulated by the first question. Those objectives are formulated as general and specific proposals.
What should I do? Outlines concrete methods, tools and research actions. What shall be done is asked for practical/empirical and theoretical research actions.
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