Unloved Methodologies

Cultural Studies for Research in Media and Gender Relations

Abstract

This text presents a theoretical-reflective essay on what we call unloved methodologies. We suggest alchemy instead of a ready-made recipe for the production of research with the aim of provoking debates about the contributions of methodological perspectives that permeate discussions on media and gender relations to think about research in Education. Research in Cultural Studies and Education is a practice that differs from the dimension of scientific production that applies closed, ready and conclusive methods. We focus on the production of data as the creation of other truths, of disputes over the senses and meanings attributed to gender identities and which formulate performances and perspectives in the media that educate ways of being and acting. We argue that failure is associated with alternative routes that are not included in the methodology manuals because they were not explored, are still incipient because no research has gone through there. We recognize that this proposal does not ignore the contributions hitherto provided by beloved, repeated and canonized methodologies, but indicates other interpretations. The work of using unloved methodologies is also an ethical-political proposal to produce knowledge that is transitory, variable, plural and that enters into disputes for other ways of interpreting, producing and knowing the world. The task of researching other methodologies also encourages researchers to seek other directions through the alchemy of scientific practice.