Paper short abstract:

Working with “risky target groups” or risky living and working conditions emerged as major topics during fieldworks in Brazil in different forms and showed the need of coping strategies and psychological supervision from outside. Results from discussions with colleagues since 2007 are presented to show possible solutions.

Paper long abstract:

Risky ethnography: Working with "risky target groups" or risky living and working conditions in the field emerged as major topics during fieldworks in Brazil in different forms and showed the need of coping strategies and psychological supervision from outside.

How can researchers from Western Europe prepare for fieldwork in developing countries? Do women need a special preparation or take specific precautions? How can they deal with the huge social gaps in the host society that influence relationships in the field and thus the outcomes of research? The presentation discusses aspects which emerged during various fieldworks by a female, young, white Austrian in two Brazilian regions since 2003.

Personal reflection while interacting with people in the field seems to be especially relevant in the Brazilian case regarding social class. Experience showed that researchers' behaviour and deeper knowledge about Brazil and peoples' life worlds may positively influence the relationship during interview or participant observation. Moreover, the concept of ethno-psychoanalysis can be used during fieldworks not only to analyze own experiences, perceptions, fears, anger etc. during fieldwork, but also the interaction processes during interviews.

In 2007, a workshop about the topic was organized at the Equatorial Meeting of Anthropology (REA) in Aracaju, Brazil, where anthropologists discussed how to deal with risk during fieldwork, how they perceived the risk they were exposed to and coping strategies they employed. Since then I've been talking to colleagues around the world about their experiences and will try to summarize the results of these findings in my presentation.