Grounded Theory as Systems Science: Working with Indigenous Nations for Social Justice

Abstract

Twenty-seventeen marks the 50th anniversary of Glaser and Strauss's seminal text on The Discovery of Grounded Theory (1967). Grounded theory has stood the test of time as an inductive, interactive, emergent method with purposeful explanatory intent in the field of qualitative research (Charmaz, 2008b). Its various iterations, such as Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory and Clarke's postmodern situational analysis, attest to its epistemological flexibility (Clarke, 2005; Charmaz, 2006). Our phronetic grounded theory approach and transformational grounded theory contributed a decolonizing variation of grounded theory methods and demonstrated its use in the Indigenous Australian and Pacific contexts (Bainbridge, Whiteside, & McCalman, 2013; Redman-MacLaren & Mills, 2015). In a phronetic grounded theory approach, reflective practice informs morally-oriented action that leads to change (Flyvberg, 2001; Bainbridge, Whiteside, & McCalman, 2013). With the exception of Charmaz (2017a), for instance, few theorists have explicitly taken up the proposition and utility of grounded theory as decolonizing tool in research. Yet, grounded theory's pragmatist roots and its commitment to social justice suggest that it can be used purposefully in its intent as a decolonizing method (Charmaz, 2017a). Indeed, grounded theory methods respond to many of the discrete critiques of Western research that Indigenous researchers have proffered in recent decades. We contemplate how the utility of grounded theory methods can provide a fresh perspective and maximize the value of research for Indigenous nations.