......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... doi:10.1017/S1049096519002233 © American Political Science Association, 2020 PS • 2020 1 The Profession Toward Active Reflexivity: Positionality and Practice in the Production of Knowledge Jessica Soedirgo, University of Toronto Aarie Glas, Northern Illinois University ABSTRACT How should scholars recognize and respond to the complexities of positionality during the research process? Although there has been much theorizing on the intersec- tional and context-dependent nature of positionality, there remains a disjuncture between how positionality is understood theoretically and how it is applied. Ignoring the dynamism of positionality in practice has implications for the research process. This article theorizes one means of recognizing and responding to positionality in practice: a posture of “active reflex- ivity.” It outlines how we can become actively reflexive by adopting a disposition toward both ongoing reflection about our own social location and ongoing reflection on our assumptions regarding others’ perceptions. We then articulate four strategies for doing active reflexivity: recording assumptions around positionality; routinizing and systemizing reflexivity; bringing other actors into the process; and “showing our work” in the publication process. I do remain puzzled by how to teach students to be reflexive. Is reflexivity a skill? A set of methods that can be taught? If so, what are the methods of reflexivity? Wanda Pillow (2003, 171) T here is a growing consensus across political science that positionality matters. Qualitative–interpretivist scholars, for instance, have written about the impor- tance of reflexivity in interviewing and ethnography (Fujii 2017; Shehata 2006). Similarly, scholars in the quantitative–positivist tradition have considered the ways that interviewer identity affects survey results (Adida et al. 2016; Davis 1997). This growing recognition has been accompanied by much theorizing on the intersectional and context-dependent nature of positionality. However, less has been written in political science about the practice of reflexivity within research processes. There remains a disjuncture between how positionality is understood theoretically and how it is applied. How should scholars recognize and respond to the complex- ities of positionality during the research process? We approach this question through our experiences as qualitative researchers con- ducting interviews for very different projects: Jessica investigating conflict involving very small groups (Soedirgo 2018) and Aarie exploring governance practices within regional organizations (Glas 2017; 2018). Despite our academic appreciation of position- ality, we both found it difficult to incorporate its dynamism into our research. This article theorizes one means to recognize and respond to positionality in research practice. We advance a posture of what we term “active reflexivity.” A posture, unlike a habit or a set of procedures, is an embodied disposition toward reflexivity as research is conducted—from design to data collection to inter- pretation. 1 More narrowly, we see active reflexivity as a triple movement, consisting of ongoing interrogations of (1) our posi- tionality; (2) how our positionality is read by others, given their own social location and the contexts in which we interact; and (3) the assumptions about our conclusions in the first two stages. This article is structured in two parts. We begin by illustrating a gap between how positionality is described in theory and how it often is practiced. Here, we rely on our own research experiences alongside those of other scholars to highlight the challenges of doing reflexivity in the field. In the second part, we outline the foundations of being actively reflexive and offer four concrete strategies to do active reflexivity. POSITIONALITY IN PRACTICE When positionality is theorized, it is understood both epistemo- logically and ontologically as dynamic and context specific. This is well established within feminist literatures—and black feminist Jessica Soedirgo is a PhD candidate (ABD) in political science at the University of Toronto. She can be reached at jessica.soedirgo@utoronto.ca. Aarie Glas is assistant professor of political science at Northern Illinois University. He can be reached at aglas@niu.edu.