Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore the relation between knowledge and danger in a small community of Chiloé, southern Chile

Paper long abstract:

Doing ethnography on a small and remote island presents the immediate predicament of being the very visible Other in a small world of all alike people. In a community where people do all they can to ensure lack of differentiation, being the Other implied having 'knowledge' of things that belong to the outside world. 'Knowledge' is dangerous because it promotes differentiation between people, different access to sources of power, and to witchcraft. This paper will explore the contradictions that have to be faced doing fieldwork, when trying to access other people's knowledge and at the same time being invested with knowledge expectations. This contribution will also show the impossibility of relying on the interview as a relating device.