Paper short abstract:

To anthropologists, corporations are a highly interesting, but also challenging research arena. In my paper, I will talk about the major issues I faced during 24 months of fieldwork inside a global financial institution.

Paper long abstract:

What would Malinowski have said if the Trobriand Islanders had asked him to sign a seventy-page contract before studying them? Today, even though the method remains the same, the circumstances of doing fieldwork have changed significantly. Anthropologists who want to explore current social life often face severe issues, especially if they engage with corporations.

In my paper, I will examine the challenges I faced during my two years' fieldwork in a global financial institution. First, I will outline the compromises I had to make to be able to get access to the corporate world. Second, I will talk about the fact that while studying people and processes in a powerful corporation, my anthropological observations where constantly challenged by the dominant narratives of the corporation's stakeholders. Third, I will examine how I learned to deal with the fact that a corporation represents a very specific social arena in which people are constantly trying the present themselves as "good employees".

Based on my findings, I will conclude that due to the current omnipresence of corporations in everyday life, anthropologists need to rethink fieldwork practices in order to keep up with the social dynamics of today's world.