Field Notes from RAIR: Putting Relational Accountability into Practice

Abstract

In this field notes section we explore our work as a collective of Indigenous and settler academics, food providers, and community-based organizers, including how we came together over several plates of nachos and a shared vision of deepening our relationships to land rooted in (non)(de)(anti)colonial and feminist perspectives. In this ‘field notes’ piece, we articulate what research based in relational accountability looks like for us, including the challenges and practices we have come across as we strive to make our work possible as a collective, and navigate a rather complex relationship with academia. We suggest that this work of relational accountability might also be considered ‘field work’ (or ‘feels work’ as some of our members refer to it).

Keywords

• methods
• anti-colonial research
• feminist methodology
• food sovereignty
• relational accountability
• indigenous-settler relationships