Social Research As a Painful (but Rewarding) Self-Examination

Abstract

As early as 1967, the French ethno-psychoanalyst Georges Devereux proposed adopting a radical perspective on researchers’ subjectivity to the entire field of “behavioral sciences.” Whenever our research confronts us with other human beings and thus with ourselves, he argues, we are confronted with anxiety. Instead of fighting against this anxiety and other painful irritations that go hand in hand with any social research, Devereux’s proposal can thus be understood as an invitation to work with this anxiety and use it to gain deeper insights. This article suggests that we re-read Devereux in the light of the contemporary discussions on reflexivity and subjectivity based on (a) an outline and short interpretation of Devereux’s central argument, (b) a subjective re-reading by the author herself, and (c) an examination of some contemporary readings by other qualitative researchers.