Positionality

Abstract

This chapter explores the concept of positionality as one of the main themes of the OIN Ocean Literacy Toolkit. It draws on positionality theory and anti-oppressive, decolonial research methodologies that incorporate positionality as a reflexivity tool in social research. Drawing on Donna Haraway’s seminal essay on “Situated Knowledges”, the chapter elaborates on questions that researchers might ask themselves to understand the ways in which their positionality influences how they come to know the Ocean and how they may edge towards epistemic justice. Thus, linking positionality to epistemology, the chapter charts how multiple ways of knowing the Ocean is surfacing in both academic scholarship and policy. Finally, the authors connect and translate the main dimensions to the two pathways “connecting with each other” and “connecting with the ocean” and introduce the positionality activities included in the OIN Toolkit.