Problematising power relations in ‘elite’ interviews

Abstract

Methodological debates about interviewing 'elites' have recently received significant attention within human geography. Many of the contributors to this debate have suggested that there is something intrinsically different about interviewing 'up', which geography's methodological literature needs to make space to consider. This paper argues that, in fact, the distinction between 'elite' interviewees and other types of interviewees is based on inadequate and widely critiqued conceptions of power. If, instead, geographers employ a poststructural understanding of power, we may be able to achieve a more sophisticated analysis of power relations within the interview space.