Animated intersectionality: Deepening perspectives on elite research

Over the years, scholars have encouraged researchers to consider positionality when studying individuals of specific socio-economic groups, including those of high social and economic status. However, limited studies have examined the intersecting identities of both researchers and the ‘elites’ they study, or what happens when research teams are diverse and include individuals with different positions of privilege and disadvantage.

This paper introduces the concept of ‘animated intersectionality’. It builds on Kimberlé Crenshaw’s work (1991) by keeping in view the structural inequalities that shape identities, including race, gender, class, nationality and language, while also recognising individual agency and diversity among people sharing similar structural positions. In this paper, the word ‘animated’ captures how these structures are set in motion in everyday encounters, without losing sight of structural injustice.

The insights reflected on in this paper come from the National Research Foundation-funded Off-grid Cities project (2021–2023). The project examined how affluent households in the Cities of Johannesburg and Cape Town turned to solar photovoltaic panels and water boreholes to cope with planned water and electricity interruptions, called loadshedding and water-shedding. Members of the research team reflected on their experiences during data collection across the two sites, responding to a shared set of questions in writing, by voicenote or through interviews, from which a set of core themes were identified.

Experiences across the research team varied sharply, even within the very same interviews. The research team noted that identities influenced who could secure access and how encounters unfolded: some researchers were perceived as ‘insiders’ and could move through elite spaces with ease. In contrast, others were met with suspicion, dismissal or exhausting pressure to fit in. The paper argues that power in elite research is fluid but also linked to the intersection of race, ethnicity, and class. Expanding Sennett and Cobb’s idea of ‘hidden injury’ (1972), the paper documents the emotional and psychological toll this work exacts and challenges the notion that all researchers share a middle ground of power.

Key points:

• The paper introduces ‘animated intersectionality’, an approach holding structural inequality and individual agency together, recognising the force of identities and the diversity among people who share a structural position.
• Researchers’ own intersecting identities, including race, gender, class, nationality and language, influenced both access to elite interviewees and interview dynamics, sometimes easing entry and sometimes provoking suspicion or dismissal.
• Power in elite research is fluid but also linked to intersections of race, ethnicity and class. It cannot be flattened into a simple insider/outsider or powerful/powerless binary.
• Research on elites carries hidden costs. The paper presents the emotional and psychological toll researchers face as they encounter intersecting forms of exclusion. Gatekeepers, including receptionists and security staff, exact this toll, not only elites themselves.
• The analysis challenges the concepts of 'studying up’ and ‘studying down.’ Both terms assume researchers share a similar level of power, which masks the different ways team members are positioned and treated in the field.
• The paper cautions against methods advice that presents strategies as universally effective, ignoring how a researcher’s identities shape whether those strategies work at all.

Recommended citation:

Cooper-Knock, S.J., Culwick Fatti, C., Khanyile, S., Middelmann, T., Murahwa, B., and Rubin, M. (2026). Animated intersectionality: Deepening perspectives on elite research. Qualitative Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941261451388

For further details, please contact Dr Christina Culwick Fatti [cculwickfatti@uwc.ac.za]