Demarginalizing Voices

Numerous books explore the “how to” of qualitative research, but few discuss what it means to actually engage in it, particularly when researchers adopt alternative methods to shed light on the experiences of marginalized populations.

In Demarginalizing Voices, scholars share personal stories about their research with marginalized populations, including Aboriginal peoples, sex workers, the dead and the dying, women and men in prison, women and men released from prison, and the homeless and the hospitalized. In the process, they answer questions of relevance to anyone engaged in qualitative research:

• What can scholars expect when their research requires them to establish human connections and relationships with their subjects?
• What role do ethics review boards and institutions play when researchers explore new, often less accepted methods?
• How do researchers reconcile academic life and its expectations with their activism?

These powerful accounts from the cutting-edge of qualitative research not only create a space in academia that centres marginalized voices, they open up the field to new debates and discussion.

Jennifer M. Kilty is an associate professor in the Department of Criminology and the Social Science of Health at the University of Ottawa. Maritza Felices-Luna is an associate professor in the Department of Criminology at the University of Ottawa. Sheryl C. Fabian is a senior lecturer in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University.

Contributors: Céline Bellot, Chris Bruckert, Dorothy Chunn, Colleen Anne Dell, Catherine Fillmore, Sylvie Frigon, Stacey Hannem, Dave Holmes, Jean Daniel Jacob, John Lowman, Robert Menzies, Melissa Munn, Russell D. Ogden, Ted Palys, Amélie Perron, Laura Shantz, Bernard St.-Jacques, Marie-Ève Sylvestre, Will C. van den Hoonaard