Free speech or obedient speech? Revisiting liberal speech norms in ‘closed contexts’

Qualitative researchers can usually discern the difference between obedient speech and fearless, critical, or oppositional speech. Yet context in which acts are performed is necessarily uneven, such that same people who might speak freely one place often quick to engage another. Speech also depend on speaker's positionality, meaning some speakers may have privilege act as ‘truth-tellers’ freely, whereas positionality of others does not enable this. This paper considers how these contextual factors be overlooked when liberal norms taken for granted. Engaging with Michel Foucault's writing parrhesia, I highlight issues defining socio-political borders drawn around free (‘fearless’) opposed (‘performative’) show parrhesia opens up key questions qualitative research about politicisation versus through space time.