This contribution arises from my doctoral thesis about the rise of self-organized groups for women, black people, disabled people and lesbians and gay men within trade unions in Britain. My reflexivity as a researcher hinged upon my capacity to recognize my new position as an insider-outsider in relation to the university, the union and each of the self-organized groups, whilst the fertility of the project hinged upon my capacity to activate the hyphen by journeying between different life-worlds. This article explores the personal, professional and political dilemmas in becoming an insider-outsider with a view to assisting future generations of action researchers.
Adler, P. A. , & Adler, P. (1993). Ethical issues in self-censorship: Ethnographic research on sensitive topics. In C. M. Renzetti & R. M. Lee (Eds.), Researching sensitive topics (pp. 249-266). London: Sage .
2.
Barnes, C. , & Mercer, G. (Eds.) (1997). Doing disability research. Leeds: The Disability Press .
3.
Bentz, V. M. , & Shapiro, J. J. (1998). Mindful inquiry in social research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
4.
Bourdieu, P. , & Wacquant, L. J. D (1992). An introduction to reflexive sociology. Cambridge: Polity Press .
5.
Bradbury, H. , & Reason, P. (2001). Conclusion: Broadening the bandwidth of validity: issues and choice-points for improving the quality of action research. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research. Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 447-455). London: Sage .
6.
Branfield, F. (1998). What are you doing here? ‘Non-disabled’ people and the disability movement . Disability and Society, 13 (1), 143-144 .
7.
Coghlan, D. , & Brannick, T. (2005). Doing action research in your own organization, 2nd edn.London: Sage .
8.
Colgan, F. (1999). Recognizing the lesbian and gay constituency in UK trade unions. Moving forward in UNISON . Industrial Relations Journal, 30(5), 444-463 .
9.
Collier, A. (1994). Critical realism. An introduction to Roy Bhaskar’s philosophy. London: Verso .
10.
Cunnison, S. , & Stageman, J. (1995). Feminizing the unions. Challenging the culture of masculinity. Aldershot: Avebury .
11.
Druckett, P. S. (1998). What are you doing here? “Non-disabled” people and the disability movement. A response to Fran Branfield . Disability and Society, 13(4), 625-628 .
12.
Ellis, C. , & Bochner, A. P. (2000). Autoethnobiography, personal narrative, reflexivity: Researcher as subject. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd edn, pp. 733-768). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
13.
Fay, B. (1987). Critical social science. Liberation and its limits. Oxford: Polity Press .
14.
Fine, M. (1994). Working the hyphens: Reinventing self and other in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (1st edn, pp. 70-82). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
15.
Gamson, J. (1995). Must identity movements self-destruct? A queer dilemma . Social Problems, 42(3), 390-407 .
16.
Greenwood, D. J. , & Levin, M. (2000). Reconstructing the relationships between universities and society through action research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd edn, pp. 85-106). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
17.
Guba, E. G. , & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
18.
Hammerseley, M. (1995). The politics of social research. London: Sage .
19.
Heron, J. , & Reason, P. (2001). The practice of co-operative inquiry: Research “with” rather than “on” people. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research. Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 179-188). London: Sage .
20.
Hobsbawm, E. (1996). Identity politics and the Left . New Left Review, 217, 38-47 .
21.
Humphrey, J. C. (1998). Self-organize and survive: Disabled people in the British trade union movement . Disability and Society, 13(4), 587-602 .
22.
Humphrey, J. C. (1999a). To queer or not to queer a lesbian and gay group? Sexual and gendered politics at the turn of the century . Sexualities, 2(2), 223-246 .
23.
Humphrey, J. C. (1999b). Organizing sexualities, organised inequalities. Lesbians and gay men in public service organizations . Gender, Work and Organization, 6(3), 134-151 .
24.
Humphrey, J. C. (2000). Researching disability politics, or, some problems with the social model in practice . Disability and Society, 15(1), 63-85 .
25.
Humphrey, J. C. (2002). Towards a politics of the rainbow. Self-organization in the trade union movement. Aldershot: Ashgate .
26.
McIlroy, J. (1988). Trade unions in Britain today. Manchester: Manchester University Press .
27.
Michels, R. (1959). Political parties. A sociological study of the oligarchical tendencies of modern democracy. New York: Dover Publications .
28.
Miller, A. (2005). The body never lies. The lingering effects of cruel parenting. New York: W. W. Norton .
29.
Pole, C. , & Morrison, M. (2003). Ethnography for education. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill .
30.
Punch, M. (1994). Politics and ethics in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (1st edn, pp. 83-97). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
31.
Reagon, B. J. (1983). Coalition politics: Turning the century. In B. Smith (Ed.), Home girls. A black feminist anthology (pp. 356-368). New York: Kitchen Table Women of Colour Press .
32.
Reason, P. (ed.) (1994). Participation in human inquiry. London: Sage .
33.
Reason, P. & Bradbury, H. (2001). Introduction: Inquiry and participation in search of a world worthy of human aspiration. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research. Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 1-14). London: Sage .
34.
Richardson, L. (1997). Fields of play: Constructing an academic life. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press .
35.
Roseneil, S. (2000). Common women, uncommon practices. The queer feminisms of Greenham. London: Cassell .
36.
Rowan, J. (2001). The humanistic approach to action research. In P. Reason & H. Bradbury (Eds.), Handbook of action research. Participative inquiry and practice (pp. 114-123). London: Sage .
37.
Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. Towards a new design of teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass .
38.
Smith, A. M. (1994). New Right discourses on race and sexuality in Britain 1968-1990. New York: Cambridge University Press .
39.
Stanley, L. , & Wise, S. (1993). Breaking out again. Feminist ontology and epistemology. London: Routledge .
40.
Virdee, S. , & Grint, K. (1994). Black self-organization in trade unions . The Sociological Review, 42(2), 203-226 .
41.
Vishvapani (2001). Introducing the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order. Birmingham: Windhorse .
42.
Young, I. M. (1990). Justice and the politics of difference. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press .
