Dissolving ‘the field’ and rethinking ‘ontological locationality’

The concept of ‘ontological locationality’ invites us to revisit and re-interrogate the very design and formulation of our research projects by being more attentive to their origins. Palat Narayan's proposed terminology, however, has the potential to also run counter to the goals he espouses of inclusion and social justice, creating barriers between academics and the communities with and alongside whom they study, including activists, public policy experts and other allies. It may risk re-inscribing binaries of field and home, centre and periphery, and may not fully acknowledge longstanding feminist and decolonial literatures that would support these aims and provide a more relational perspective focused on the co-creation of knowledge.