The Arena of Othering: A Life-Story Study with Women Living in Poverty and Social Marginality

This article documents the encounters between a researcher and interviewees who were women living in extreme poverty and social exclusion. It presents these encounters as taking place in what I call an arena of ‘Othering’. The arena of Othering is a sphere of power relationships in which each participant defines both herself and the Other. In this arena two reciprocal social images interact, one is perceived in social terms as more powerful, the other as inferior. The article analyses the effects of the dynamic of Othering upon the research process as demonstrated in the interviewing, in the interpretation of the data and in the writing of the research. The article also suggests some possible strategies to resist Othering.