Women Fielding Danger: Negotiating Ethnographic Identities In Field Research

Social Science / Women’s Studies MARTHA K. HUGGINS is Charles and Leo Favrot Professor of Human Relations and professor of sociology and Latin American studies at Tulane University. MARIE-LOUISE GLEBBEEK is assistant professor in the Department of Cultural Anthropology at Utrecht University. WomenFieldingDangerPBK.indd 1 ISBN-13: 978-0-7425-4120-7 ISBN-10: 0-7425-4120-7 00000 9 780742 541207 Cover photo: Encuentro de dos mundos, 1492–1992 © Daniel Hernández-Salazar ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD For orders and information please contact the publisher ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc. 4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200 Lanham, Maryland 20706 1-800-462-6420 www.rowmanlittlefield.com HUGGINS Angela Demovic, Lynn Fredriksson, Marie-Louise Glebbeek, Donna M. Goldstein, Martha K. Huggins, Jennifer Bickham Mendez, Lois Presser, Kat Rito, Victoria Sanford, Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers, Meera Sehgal, Roschanack Shaery-Eisenlohr, Monique Skidmore, Mangala Subramaniam, Jocelyn Viterna WOMEN FIELDING DANGER CONTRIBUTORS AND “This book is full of fascinating stories seldom told about women, in their roles as professional researchers, negotiating multiple dangers in the field. The editors have done a wonderful job of putting scholars, across disciplines and working in twelve countries, into conversation to illuminate how gender dynamics influence the ethical and political dilemmas that arise at every turn of the research process.” —LORI MARSO, Department of Political Science, Union College NEGOTIATING ETHNOGRAPHIC IDENTITIES IN FIELD RESEARCH “If you take gender, fieldwork, and theory seriously, this is the book you want to read. Leading scholars across disciplines ‘in the field’ take us to the intersections of danger, identity, and ethics as we both live them in our world and explore them in our writing. These are academic crossroads at their creative best.” —CAROLYN NORDSTROM, Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame GLEBBEEK “A must-read for all field researchers! In this impressive volume, top scholars across disciplines and working around the globe take on thorny issues of morality, physical peril, danger to informants, and the lack of credibility that women face as field researchers. Their insights are fresh and compelling. In a work that is brave but not arrogant, they set a new standard for field research in the twenty-first century.” —KATHLEEN BLEE, Department of Sociology, University of Pittsburgh WOMEN FIELDING DANGER NEGOTIATING ETHNOGRAPHIC IDENTITIES IN FIELD RESEARCH edited by MARTHA K. HUGGINS and MARIE-LOUISE GLEBBEEK 11/14/08 4:27:11 PM Women Fielding Danger Women Fielding Danger Negotiating Ethnographic Identities in Field Research Edited by Martha K. Huggins and Marie-Louise Glebbeek ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Lanham • Boulder • New York • Toronto • Plymouth, UK ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD PUBLISHERS, INC. Published in the United States of America by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers