Paper short abstract:

Conducting ethnographic fieldwork in a familiar space is an exercise in understanding researcher positionality. This paper reflects on the process of doing research in a familiar space and considers the broader methodological implications of anthropology 'at home'.

Paper long abstract:

Conducting ethnographic fieldwork 'at home' is often assumed to provide automatic insider status or to be a threat to objectivity. At its most extreme, home-town ethnography is undermined by the colonial foundations of anthropology that still permeate contemporary understandings of value and legitimacy in academic research.

I spent my formative years in a regional Queensland town, dissatisfied by the consequences of rurality on an active teenage life. After migrating outwards I was left with an ambivalent understanding of what home meant. I found my own ideas reflected in Madden's (1999, p. 261) working model of home as a "problematic, yet attractive domain". In 2016, I returned to the area as an anthropologist, to explore the experiences of working holidaymakers employed in seasonal agricultural labour. Pre-existing connections made for a smooth transition into the field; family and friends provided accommodation when required, and seeking out research participants began by catching up with old neighbours. Adjusting to dual roles of researcher and returning resident unveiled feelings of discomfort and a heightened, uncertain sense of self that was at odds with assumptions of familiarity and belonging associated with localness.

Conducting ethnography at home became an exercise in understanding shifting positionality. By sharing some internal conflicts and crises, this paper reflects on the process of conducting research in a familiar space and considers the broader methodological implications for doing ethnography at home.