“She Knows Who She Is! But Can She Find Herself in the Analysis?”: Feminism, Disability and Research Practice

As non-disabled researchers carrying out feminist research with disabled women, we enter the research arena on the coat-tails of identity, power relations and politics. In this article we present an analysis of power relations in the researcher/participant relationship. The politics of identity is an important component of this analysis. Drawing from a study undertaken with six disabled women, we suggest that the use of research methods that begin from and, are informed by, the participation of those being researched, are likely to produce results that are more representative of the participants’ lived realities.