Advancement on the Edge of Dreaming: Positionality as a Tool for Justice

Abstract

As society slowly continues its momentum toward justice and repair, evaluators stand at a vital crossroads. In order for us to show up as better guides and co-creators, we must tend to and understand the particular sociopolitical contexts that we and our partners work and live within. Acute attention to positionality has the potential to transform evaluation into a more rigorous and humane field. Reflecting on our positionalities allows us to systematically explore the complex localities in which we are uniquely privileged and marginalized. By applying this lens to our evaluative practice, positionality becomes a counter to the notion of evaluators as objective actors. Developing core competencies in assessing one's own positionalities fortifies evaluators’ ability to identify how power dynamics influence evaluation approaches and phases. In the following piece, we will map our own journeys and reflect on individual commitments to upholding evaluation as a tool for justice.