Thesis as kin: living relationality with research

As a trawlwulwuy woman of tebrakunna country, Australia, I invite scholars to embrace research and writing as kin, extending an ethic of relational accountability to all relations, including the thesis. “Thesis as kin” derives from an Aboriginal ontological translation of the English (originally Latin) word “thesis,” broken into two parts, “the” “sis”, revealing the short form for sister “sis” as the primary entity. “Thesis as kin” can similarly be translated as “thesis as kin,” an agentic provocation that situates knowledge production with the thesis itself and suggests the thesis is askin’ (asking) questions. Not limited to doctoral studies, imagining thesis as kin respectfully and humbly responds to scholars’ calls that Indigenous research paradigms centre relationality. This article advocates for a research practice beyond consumerist reproduction, towards a process of kinship. It is an attempt to caretake all our relations by living the processes of relationality with research.