The Politics of Localization: Controlling Movement in the Field
Author(s)
Keshodkar, Akbar
Abstract
Romantic notions of the field, as depicted in works such as those of Evans-Pritchard and Malinowski, where an anthropologist is able to set up a hut in the middle of a village, conceal the complexities encountered by researchers in attempts to localize themselves in the field. In the post-colonial, globalizing world today, the field is marked by various unequal power relationships. Reflecting on his own fieldwork experience, the author examines how questions of race and ethnicity affect a researcher’s ability to acquire various apprenticeships for understanding how ‘things are done’ (Jenkins 1994: 442) and effectively conduct fieldwork. As ethnic/racial categories through which the locals classify the researcher dictate the nature of data collected, the paper will explore issues that a researcher must attempt to comprehend when placed in such a situation and discuss how questions of power are integral for negotiating one’s position in such a politicized field.
