Doing (critical) qualitative research in China in a global era

Abstract

Over the last decades, qualitative researchers from the global south have questioned the dominance of the Anglo-American core and the current divide between the core and periphery. Nevertheless, it is unclear how to disrupt the divide. This article advances this endeavour by demonstrating the interplay between Anglo-American domination and a local hegemonic discourse that has perpetuated the core–periphery divide and hindered the development of critical qualitative research (QR) in the periphery. The author conceptualizes the periphery as an incubator that nurtures locally grounded and globally informed qualitative researchers. This demands interrogating the interplay between core domination and local hegemony. Doing so lays the foundation for qualitative researchers in the periphery to explore, and eventually articulate, decentred methodologies and locally situated epistemologies on a globalized platform. Using two case studies of QR conducted in China, the article examines the practices and politics of doing (critical) QR in contemporary China. It discusses methodological and epistemological issues pertinent to decentring QR in a global era.