Short Abstract

This roundtable brings together parent-researchers and their fieldwork-joining children. We want to break what is often a taboo for employers, funders and ethics commissions, and think constructively about how such arrangements can be beneficial for all parties involved.

Long Abstract

It is not uncommon for anthropologists who have families to travel to their field sites with children and/or partners. Yet, the practice is somewhat taboo - in most cases, employers and funders do not want to hear about family members accompanying the researcher, and ethics commissions typically do not inquire about such arrangements. Yet, to travel to the field with family is both a practical and ethical decision as it is to travel without the family. If children are left behind, should we not ask what impact it has on them and on the person who takes care of them during the researcher’s absence? What does it mean for this person’s career, wellbeing, etc.? Conversely, if children are taken to the field, how does this impact our research, but also children themselves?

Drawing on previous research (Korpela, Hirvi & Tawah 2016, Hope et al. 2025) and the experiences of the roundtable’s members, we come to discuss challenges and opportunities of researching with children and/or partners. The roundtable brings together (adult) researchers and their children with different perspectives on accompanying fieldwork: parents with small children who recently started research away from home, young adults who can reflect on the past experience of accompanying their parents to fieldwork and teenagers who have been repeatedly joining their parents for research since being small. In the spirit of collaborative social science, we want to include the voices of children and teenagers themselves and think aloud about what needs to be done to make the process beneficial for all sides involved.

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