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- Convenors:
-
Caitlin Procter
(Geneva Graduate Institute)
Branwen Spector (University College London)
- Formats:
- Panels
- Stream:
- Anthropology
- Location:
- Examination Schools Room 11
- Start time:
- 21 September, 2018 at
Time zone: Europe/London
- Session slots:
- 1
Short Abstract:
This panel invite contributions from ethnographers on challenges in contemporary anthropological research addressing the themes of safety, mental health and wellbeing, gender, radical research methods and ethics in fieldwork.
Long Abstract:
This panel addresses the body and the mind of the ethnographer, as the site of a diverse convergence of experiences during fieldwork. Although it has been acknowledged in anthropology that our bodies are our tools of research, the impact of this reality on our bodies is under-explored. As multiple layers of violence dominate the sites that many of us choose to study, ethnographers constantly negotiate relationships and positionalities in ways that can put them in danger. While international organisations often have protocols for staff working in difficult contexts, many universities do not. The staff of such organisations praise the freedom of anthropologists to work without security restrictions, and yet this has in many instances led to devastating consequences. Researchers' attempts to talk about their challenging fieldwork experiences are often silenced or dismissed as being the result of bad or unethical practice on the part of the researcher. Acknowledging that similar protocols would struggle to capture the complexities of ethnographic research, this panel opens a space to counter the current institutional silence on this subject. Building on existing research into the ubiquity of fieldwork challenges (Pollard 2009) and the importance of treating such experiences and emotions with intellectual rigour (Davies and Spencer 2010), this panel asks how our institutions and professional associations could better support researchers experiencing challenges in the field. We invite contributions from ethnographers whose fieldwork experiences have gone beyond their expectations, addressing the themes of safety, mental health and wellbeing, gender, radical research methods and ethics in fieldwork.
Accepted papers:
Session 1Lisa Ernst (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)
Paper short abstract:
This paper discusses the ethical implications of forming friendships and trust relationships as a research method under extreme political pressure in contemporary Xinjiang and the resulting impact for the mental wellbeing of the anthropologist during and after fieldwork.
Paper long abstract:
This paper discusses the ethical implications of forming friendships and trust relationships as a research method under extreme political pressure in contemporary Xinjiang and the resulting impact for the mental wellbeing of the anthropologist during and after fieldwork.
The abundant anthropological literature on ethical dilemmas during fieldwork are mostly concerned with the researcher's positionality from a professional ethical standpoint. But the mental wellbeing of the researcher who has formed emotional bonds with the people he or she studies, is still largely neglected as a topic of academic discussion.
The content of this paper is based on my own fieldwork experiences among Uyghurs in Urumqi, Xinjiang, where research is not only logistically difficult but also emotionally straining. Constant police supervision and the lingering threat of imprisonment for research participants result in enormous mental and ethical pressure for the anthropologist. I argue that relationships in the field and the psychological consequences for the researcher are still too theoretically discussed in anthropological literature and academia. The focus on the anthropologist having to consider ethical dilemmas in contact with research participants results in neglecting his or her own mental health during the course of fieldwork. Presenting my own fieldwork experience in a very restrictive political environment, I argue that the method of friendship resulting in multiple emotions and mental dilemmas for the researcher that need to be addressed without the pressure of being dismissed as unprofessional.
Keiko Kanno (University of Oxford)
Paper short abstract:
I examine safety information, training, and instruction available through academic institutions in the Global North preceding field research in the Global South and discuss how such resources could lead to safety, wellbeing, and effective communication in the field.
Paper long abstract:
In this talk, I examine safety information, training, and instruction available through academic institutions in the Global North preceding field research in the Global South and discuss how such resources could lead to safety, wellbeing, and effective communication in the field. I also discuss what could be emphasised and added to such resources and training to enhance the fieldwork experience for researchers executing fieldwork in the Global South. Drawing on my field research experience in Mongolia and my fieldwork training at academic institutions in the UK, US, and Canada, I explore potential advantages and limitations of fieldwork preparations in the Global North.
Marianne Jennifer Datiles (UCL) Francesca Scotti (UCL) Hannah Jennings Michael Heinrich (UCL School of Pharmacy)
Paper short abstract:
Drawing on fieldwork among indigenous groups in the Philippines, Mexico, and Bangladesh, we highlight specific challenges ethnobotanists face to ensure the protection of biodiversity and intangible cultural heritage rights while researching traditional food-medicines and pharmaceutical development.
Paper long abstract:
In biodiversity-related fieldwork, concerns over the potential commercial exploitation of natural resources can, from the onset, cause severe distrust of a researcher by communities, national governments, NGOs, and informants. This, in turn, can result in hostility and misconceptions about the researcher’s intentions throughout a project. Even the mere presence of an ‘outsider’ may strain already existing tensions between resident groups - or, in the case of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, the communities, military personnel, and insurgent rebels. In this paper we address the challenges ethnobotanists face in documenting community use-knowledge of traditional foods and medicines as potential phytotherapeutic agents using historical and laboratory-based evidence, while ensuring the protection and preservation of biodiversity and intangible cultural heritage rights of the people with whom we are engaging.
Drawing from our field experiences among indigenous and local groups of Mount Pinatubo, Philippines, Oaxaca, Mexico, and the outskirts of Sylhet, Bangladesh, we reflect on the shifting political and social environments which have dictated the limitations of our studies, required unexpected and sometimes drastic safety interventions, and influenced what methods we ultimately used to build and maintain relationships with community participants. As intermediators between different worlds, ethnobotanists in practice should be informed by, and contribute to, the ethical framework of anthropology; we therefore suggest best practices methods to respect and work with local communities, collaborators, and federal stakeholders within the context of biodiversity and bioprospecting research.