Researching imprisonment

Notes on privilege, epistemic location, and structural violence

Abstract

The decision to carry out any research project necessarily involves a range of decisions: what to study, with what purpose, how to do it. When looking into forms of violence that affect historically marginalized groups, decisions linked to the conceptual framework, methodology and epistemological approach must consider both the researcher's site of enunciation and the direct or indirect effects that these issues may have on the affected subjects. In this article, we seek to share some epistemological and methodological reflections that have emerged from our research on the specific forms of violence affecting trans women deprived of their liberty in penitentiary facilities in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. From a reflexive, critical and constructive approach, we present a series of conclusions that can be drawn from this process, seeking to contribute with other scholars in the field in order to understand (some of) the potentially harmful dimensions of research practices in the social and legal sciences, while rehearsing some possible ways to avoid reproducing them.