Unravelling the Workings of Difference in Collaborative Inquiry

Abstract

This article explores the collaboration among five Czech and Danish researchers across nations, languages, ages, and institutions. The ambition is to unravel and destabilize views on collaboration that tend to idealize collaborative processes and methodologies. We suggest difference as a principal generator of complexity and tension. Through an analysis of two memory-work stories, we show how dynamic forces of difference disturb ideals of collaboration and dialogue. In terms of theory, we draw on Bakhtinian dialogical conceptions of difference and on poststructuralist thinkers, including Bronwyn Davies, Gilles Deleuze, and Félix Guattari. We conclude with reflections on difference and power in collaborative processes.