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- Convenors:
-
Julia Koch Tshirangwana
(Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)
Judit Tavakoli
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- Formats:
- Lightning panel
- Mode:
- Online
- Sessions:
- Thursday 18 July, -
Time zone: Europe/Madrid
Short Abstract:
The online lightening panels brings together pairs of anthropologists who report on their experiences and exchanges of 'accompanied fieldwork'.
Long Abstract:
The call invites for an analysis of the doing with anthropology and thus the controversial forms of knowledge generation in the field. In that mode the consequences resulting from privileges and restrictions can be assessed. While the Lonely Hero pattern (Bundgaard and Rubow 2014) of field research has passed its zenith after 100 years and collaborative research among peers or in training situations has become more common in the field, the reverse question of the family ties of individual research personalities in the field has still been little addressed. Not only, but especially in the so-called post-doc phase, fewer and fewer researchers are "alone" in the field. Although there are isolated, reflective reports on the dynamics of family situations in the field (Cassell 1987; Braukmann et al. 2020), a more comparative analysis of the connection between family and field-specific embedding is still lacking. The silence about the roles of the various 'accompanying persons' (researching or non-researching partners, children, ...) in the process of ethnological knowledge generation presents itself as a missed opportunity for the reflexive generation of empirical knowledge in view of the local differences in normative concepts of family life. The "relational self" of the researcher ultimately formulates the "doings and undoings" of anthropology and our panel proposes and practices collaborations.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Thursday 18 July, 2024, -Ruth Achenbach (Goethe University Frankfurt, IZOQuaMaFA) Menahil Tahir (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)
Paper short abstract:
Various types of parenthood (to unborn, dead, and living children of different ages) have different impacts on data collection in fieldwork, as the researcher’s positionality may change by methodology (online vs. in-person), cultural context, and own life stage.
Paper long abstract:
In the depths of covid, many researchers were conducting online fieldwork, relying on digital ethnography and zoom interviews to gather their data in countries that had shut their borders to foreign scholars. It was also a time that bore the risk of intensifying the imbalance of information between researchers and the communities and individuals of interest. “My married friends now became mothers and I just don’t know about what to talk with them”, Xiangyu explained during our zoom-call, unaware that she was talking to a pregnant researcher whose toddler had been bribed to leave the house with dad so as not to disturb the interview.
Invisible motherhood – by being a mother to one dead child, one unborn child and one child in the care of their father – has shaped my fieldwork experiences online in 2021 and in person in Singapore in 2022, while I carried out in-person fieldwork in Tokyo and Singapore (and Germany) in 2023 with a baby. How someone perceives the researcher and, consequently, which information someone shares is highly context-dependent. Whether a researcher is joined by family or conducts fieldwork alone can heavily impact access to the field, opening some doors and keeping others shut. While this has received increasing intention in literature on accompanied fieldwork, this presentation offers a unique angle by comparing different types of motherhoods and their influence in data collection by different methodologies.
Vani Xaxa
Paper short abstract:
The idea of doing fieldwork during an ongoing and continuous conflict itself had given me goosebumps. And to do it with Children towing along was the most challenging part of my research. The dangers of the conflict in the region brought out the inhuman aspect of power structure in the region.
Paper long abstract:
Ongoing conflict in Tribal areas of India has taken a huge toll on the social and cultural life and livelihood of the communities. The powerful State machinery and it's policies with regard to it's military -industrial nexus has compelled the tribals to oppose the rendering of the people as paupers. This voicing out has not been taken in good taste by the government. Flooding the region with paramilitary forces and subsequent atrocities have become the norm. That in no way has stopped the people from opposing. In this context, doing fieldwork with Children along has been a challenging task to bring out the truth from the region. The dangers of the field and the security of the children had always been a concern, but once there, to see how children there cope up with this has been a concern. The power structure of the State coupled with the wealth of the industry has pushed the voices of the affected people behind the scenes.
Anna Krämer (University of Cologne)
Paper short abstract:
Fieldwork in India with a four-month-old baby opens up different perspectives of research regarding the alleged pressure of exposing oneself to the field, the family's reflective self, and different modes of encounters. This paper is about balancing decisions on doing and not-doing in the field.
Paper long abstract:
Doing anthropological fieldwork in India with a four-month-old baby and a partner opens up different perspectives and challenges. Negotiating the balance between possibilities of going ‘deeper’ into the field, taking opportunities for important events and contacts, or deciding not to participate, instead going back to your comfort zones and family is a process that is radically different while doing fieldwork alone, and which is not much described in ethnographies or anthropological work.
Letting pass the image of the lonely hero of classical anthropological research, who is not talking about security matters, hygiene standards, the need for quiet zones, and exhaustion, the paper instead zooms in on the alleged pressure of exposing oneself for the immersive experience during fieldwork. What happens to the reflective self who is not one person anymore but three? How does fieldwork with a baby necessarily changes the mode of encounters with people?
My decisions are predominantly determined by restrictions like not being able to take every spontaneous occasion or hanging out with interlocutors due to baby care, breastfeeding and resting periods. But much more important, they are based on what is good for my family and thus our well-being as only a happy researcher can do good fieldwork. Also, a family and baby also constitute a range of possibilities like intimate access to other families or the attention the baby attracts.
This paper contributes to the decision-making process of balancing the doing and not-doing in conducting anthropological fieldwork in India with a baby.
Silvia Stefani (University of Genova)
Paper short abstract:
The paper explores the researcher’s family positionality in the field, as a meaningful issue that moulds both methodological choices, calling from innovative and creative solutions, both the knowledge production process, enhancing its relational and collective nature.
Paper long abstract:
This paper investigates my positionality as a mother of a 2-year-old child and a precarious early-career researcher on fieldwork. The research I am working on focuses on the intersection of ageing and migration, investigating the experience of economic migrants who moved from the South of Europe to the North and retirement migrants who made the inverse journey. Since the beginning of the fieldwork, being the mother of a young child deeply influenced my choices, needs and gaze. First, I will problematise the process of balancing research and family needs, exploring how it calls for creative methodological solutions and reveals the continuous request by university institutions for boundary-making between family and work. However, fieldwork undoes dualism and boundaries and problematises the researcher figure designed by the institution. The “family positionality”, still too invisible in anthropological production, will be investigated as a realm where class, gender, and age intersect with different effects. Finally, exploring the researcher’s family positionality will enhance a reflection on knowledge production as an embodied and relational process. Being a mother in the field raised unexpected resonances with people I met in it, and deeply moulded my gaze, my interest and my awareness of my existential experience. It highlighted the centrality of transnational family care as a lived interest I shared with people in the field and the others I brought in the field decentred my gaze, including new perspectives in the knowledge production process.
Franz Graf (University of Vienna)
Paper short abstract:
Exploring the role of field schools in anthropology, this paper uses the borderland Burgenland as a case study. It emphasizes practical, relational teaching and learning to understand complex socio-ecological dynamics, such as climate change.
Paper long abstract:
This paper explores the critical role of ethnographic field schools in teaching anthropology, with a specific focus on Burgenland, a rural region in Austria marked by its unique ecological and cultural landscape. Integrating field schools into the anthropology curriculum exemplifies transformative, hands-on ethnographic education, particularly relevant for understanding the complex socio-ecological dynamics associated with climate change. Field schools enable students to gain immersive experiences, crucial for comprehending the intricate interplay between local environmental challenges and global climate change. Engagement with diverse stakeholders – from local experts to ordinary residents – enhances students' understanding of specific regional issues. This approach promotes a relational method in anthropology, encouraging knowledge co-creation with local communities.
The case study of Burgenland, which also happens to be the region my family comes from, underscores the importance of embedding practical fieldwork into anthropological studies from the outset. This method enriches students' methodological skills and nurtures their ability to appreciate complex real-world problems. Field schools serve as a bridge for students to explore and comprehend local responses to global issues in a nuanced and contextual manner. Advocating for a departure from the 'Lonely Hero' model of fieldwork, the paper calls for a more collaborative and relational approach, aligning with contemporary anthropological practice. Immersing students in these nuanced settings, field schools prepare them to address the multifaceted challenges of our era, fostering a generation of anthropologists equipped to navigate a changing world with sensitivity and insight.