Article Invisible in plain sight: A reflection on the potential and perils of an action research study of ‘‘positive deviants’’ Elisa Martı ´nez University of Massachusetts, USA Abstract ‘‘Unearthing local forms of child protection: Positive deviance and abduction in Ethiopia’’ offers a candid reflection on the learning journey begun with women from Ethiopia’s SNNP region, to understand and prevent the forcible abduction and marriage of young girls in their community. Deploying positive deviance within an action research approach, the paper challenges development discourses and practices where ‘‘technical experts’’ define, diagnose and (mis)direct the lives of people living in the global South. Remaining as a challenge to practitioners and young girls is that deviation can easily be shut down once rendered legible to dominant interests, and that solutions that work locally may sidestep and legitimize a problem’s systemic causes. Keywords Participatory action research, positive deviance, gender, power, aid No stage of action research is exempt from politics and power. From the selection of a research question to the assembly of a research team, and from the choice of a methodology to the specification of what counts as ‘‘evidence,’’ interest and influ- ence are constantly at play to shape a study’s narrative and its subsequent impact in both local and far-flung decision-making spaces. As a social scientist exploring the dynamics of knowledge and power in development interventions, I know that the line between empowerment and appropriation can blur and even disappear at Action Research 2017, Vol. 15(1) 53–56 ! The Author(s) 2017 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/1476750317700477 journals.sagepub.com/home/arj Corresponding author: Elisa Martı ´nez, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Department of Sociology, 200 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA 01002, USA. Email: elisa@soc.umass.edu