Spaces of Possibility and Potentiality in the Research Community in Kalaallit Nunaat
PhD student: Paninnguaq Boassen, Ilsimatusarfik – University of Greenland, Institute of Culture, Language & History
Granted amount: DKK 2.225.103
Project description:
While being aware of the big ambitions for research by the government and institutions, I want to highlight how mobility in the research community can be beneficial to research and the well-being of the general population. Stakeholders are currently discussing the conduct and regulation of research in Kalaallit Nunaat, and this PhD thesis will be arguing for the importance of research practices and why intention, participation, and partnerships are necessary to foster resilience and well-being in Kalaallit Nunaat.
In my PhD research I will ask: how do researchers influence the resilience and well-being of the population in Kalaallit Nunaat, and where are the spaces of possibilities and potentiality? As part
of this question I will further investigate: 1) What are local stakeholders’ definitions of resilience and well-being in research? 2) What are the exterior factors influencing researchers’ conduct? 3)
Where are the spaces of possibility and potentiality where researchers’ conduct benefit Kalaallit’s resilience and well-being?
To answer my research question my research design will use Grounded theory (GT), because it accommodates the collection of data using several methodologies and an analysis to develop a
theory based on data. I will gather data through interviews and observations of stakeholders in the research community, and use GT to produce a theory about the possibilities and potentiality in the research community according to stakeholders’ perceptions and literature I find. Stakeholders in research are defined as: researchers, informants, governing bodies, and institutions. They are participants in the regulation and maintenance of a research community in Kalaallit Nunaat.
This PhD aims to add a perspective of reflexivity to the current discussion in Kalaallit Nunaat about the influence and role of research. Damage narratives are developed when communities tolerate research done on their ‘problems’ in exchange for an assurance that it will materialistically and politically pay off. The method for my research to avoid being damage-centered, will be to look at the future and imagine a utopia to ensure there is insistence on potentiality and the concrete possibility for a reality other than the past or current. Desire-based frameworks defy the lure to only document the painful aspects of social realities and give the narrative of a broken and conquered people. Focusing on wisdom and hope makes it possible to envision changes and for knowledge to have a purpose in and for the communities, producing mutual benefits when researchers conduct community collaboration.
