Situating Ourselves in the Problem

In this chapter, we present an autoethnographic narrative on the partial, embodied, and situational dimensions of constructing the research problem of the book. We analyze how the formulation of a research project on the experiences of social scientists was part of a trajectory shared by the authors for almost a decade that interweaved work experiences and emotional ties. It explains that the motivations for proposing the project—its questions, objectives, and methodologies—are articulated from these shared experiences. The authors begin their reflections by complementing the debates in Chap. 5 with a discussion of feminist autoethnography; then they recount their journey as research partners between 2014 and 2023. They also address the dismantling of a network of female academics, the processes of editorial censorship on feminist and gender studies, and the family care overload that they and their female colleagues in academia bear. From these testimonies, they draw the contours of the research project that underpins this book. In the final section, the authors highlight three critical aspects to situate themselves in the problems addressed by this book from a feminist perspective.