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5 September 2018
Why fieldwork matters
(Borneman 2009)
Origins of fieldwork
● Bronislaw Malinowski
● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otZDVauLnxM
● Immersion over extended period of time
– in ’exotic’ places
● Grasp the native’s point of view
● What people say and what they do
– and the differences between
participant observation
ethnography rite de passage
Fieldwork and the crisis of representation
(Borneman 2009: introduction)
● Colonial and postcolonial relations of domination
– Colonized people as objects of ethnographer’s gaze
– Emphasis on difference, othering
● Some challenges:
– Access: can be overcome, e.g. networks, public rules
– Participant observation: new methods required