Navigating Ethnographic Fieldwork as Non-Western Self among Western-Other

Abstract

Based on fieldwork among fishers in North Shields, England, as a female Indonesian researcher, this article explores the fluidity of positionality as a result of the field’s sociality. I will reflect on how participant observation, the key component of ethnography, emerged from Western anthropologists’ fieldwork in the “Global South”. The discussion is structured into four sections. Firstly, it examines the ethical imagination’s role in establishing rapport with interlocutors. Secondly, it provides insights into the dynamics of local fishers' lives. Thirdly, it addresses challenges faced as a non-Western female researcher in a predominantly male Western field site, emphasizing the significance of ethical imagination in shaping researcher-participant dynamics. Finally, it argues that being a bricoleur will facilitate for flexibility and reflexivity during fieldwork. With the anthropological landscape continuing to evolve, I contend that there is a pressing demand for a reverse anthropology that can foster more inclusive anthropological research.