Scholars emphasise the importance of taking positionality seriously when researching people with high socio-economic status, yet relatively few studies fully recognise the intersecting identities of both researchers and these ‘elites’. In this paper, we introduce the term ‘animated intersectionality’, which allows us to recognise the significance of identities and structural inequalities, while acknowledging individual agency and the diversity among people who share similar structural positions. This paper draws from our experience as a diverse research team exploring off-grid infrastructure transitions among elites in South Africa. We emphasise that while team members secured interviews through persistence, this work takes a toll on researchers. Expanding Sennett and Cobb’s concept of ‘hidden injury’, we explore the psychological and emotional costs of working in a hostile environment. Animated intersectionality offers a nuanced approach to understanding power, preserving the importance of identities and structural inequalities. It provides a framework to examine how power dynamics unfold in personal, contextual ways, especially in interactions between researchers and elites.
Research on elites has long recognised the challenges of gaining access to powerful individuals and navigating unequal relationships between researchers and participants. However, far less attention has been paid to how the intersecting identities of researchers themselves shape these encounters. This article addresses that gap by drawing on the experiences of a diverse research team involved in the Off-grid Cities project, which examined how affluent South Africans are responding to energy and water insecurity through investments in alternative infrastructure such as solar power systems and boreholes.
The article argues that researchers’ experiences of elite spaces are profoundly shaped by the intersection of race, class, gender, nationality, language, and professional status. While some members of the research team found it relatively easy to gain access to participants and move comfortably through elite environments, others encountered suspicion, exclusion, and repeated barriers to participation. These experiences were not simply determined by structural inequalities, nor were they entirely overcome through individual effort. Rather, they emerged through the dynamic interaction between social structures and personal agency.
To better understand these processes, the authors introduce the concept of animated intersectionality. Building on intersectionality theory, animated intersectionality recognises that identities are grounded in structural inequalities while also acknowledging that people actively negotiate, resist, perform, and reinterpret those identities in everyday interactions. The concept provides a way of understanding how power is continually enacted and contested within research relationships.
Drawing on reflections from members of the research team, the article demonstrates how access to elite participants often depended on how researchers were perceived within particular social contexts. Researchers who shared aspects of elite identity or social background frequently experienced greater ease in establishing connections, while others had to rely on persistence, professional networks, or strategic adaptations to gain entry. These efforts often came at a personal cost, including feelings of exclusion, emotional exhaustion, and what the authors describe as the “hidden injuries” of conducting research in environments where researchers may not feel they belong.
The article also challenges conventional notions of “studying up” and “studying down”, arguing that such concepts oversimplify the complex and shifting power dynamics that characterise research encounters. Researchers do not occupy a single position within hierarchies of power; rather, their experiences are shaped by multiple and intersecting forms of privilege and marginalisation.
By foregrounding the lived experiences of researchers, this article contributes to methodological debates on elite research and offers a framework for understanding how power operates through both structural inequalities and everyday interactions. Animated intersectionality provides a valuable tool for examining these dynamics while encouraging more reflexive and equitable research practices.
Cooper-Knock, S.J., Culwick Fatti, C., Khanyile, S., Middelmann, T., Murahwa, B., & Rubin, M. (2026). Animated intersectionality: Deepening perspectives on elite research. Qualitative Research. https://doi.org/10.1177/14687941261451388
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