Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Narratives Of Positionality In Primatology: Foreign/Range–Country Collaborator Perspectives From Africa And South America, Michelle A. Rodrigues, Vicent Kiiza, Matthew R. Mclennan, Sérgio L. Mendes, Karen B. Strier

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Primate research and conservation may inadvertently reproduce neocolonial dynamics when primatologists from affluent, imperialist nations conduct studies in primate habitat countries. Here, we consider how interrogating the positionality of both foreign researchers and range-country collaborators can strengthen primatology. Such consideration may help us to better understand where each member of the collaboration is coming from, both figuratively and literally, and how those situated perceptions shape the research process. Centering the perspectives of the range-country collaborators, whose perspectives are infrequently voiced within the primatology literature, may illuminate challenges in cross-cultural communication and imbalances of knowledge and power. Here, we explore how …