What Exactly Is the Problem?

In response to the article “The Retreat to Positionality Statements: A Critique of the Assumptions (and How to Avoid Making Them),” I argue that the authors’ critique is borne out of their own assumptions about the nature and function of positionality statements, the meaning of science, and the (alleged) tarnishing of objectivity owing to researchers’ personal, political, and ideological commitments. Moreover, for all that the authors present themselves as the torchbearers of scientific inquiry, there are no examples of positionality statements, no explicit evidence of their putatively deleterious effects, and no compelling argument for why they ought to be abandoned. This suggests that other motives may inform their critique. What these motives are, however, remains unclear.