Working Alterity: The Impossibility of Ethical Research With Youth

摘要

In this article, my goals are to speak theoretically and methodologically about researching with, for, and about queer youth in ways that trouble identities as people represent them. I do so within examinations of (hetero)normativity and exploring the promise of queering qualitative methodologies. Opening with a brief contextualization of the ethical conundrums inherent in a qualitative research methodology, I am particularly interested in methodologies that emanate from epistemologies that attempt both to be ethical, and to acknowledge the very impossibility of such a move. Next, possibilities for data collection, analysis, and representation that are particularly important when working with queer youth are outlined. Last, I engage in the difficult conversation about who ought be engaging in research with, by, and for queer youth.