Navigating the ‘field

Reflexivity, uncertainties, and negotiation along the border of Bangladesh and India

Bibliographic Data

ID7767810
AuthorsMd Azmeary Ferdoush (0000-0001-7138-1363, Geography Research Unit, University of Oulu, Finland, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume24
Issue2
Pages176-196
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1466-1381 • E-ISSN: 1741-2714
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1466138120937040
OpenAlexW3041844532
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited40

Drawing on a fourteen-month ethnographic fieldwork experience along the border of Bangladesh and India, I offer a narrative of daily challenges and uncertainties in the ‘field’. Highlighting my positionality and reflexivity, I suggest that first, although a researcher may use social capital to gain access, it may raise concerns regarding the genuineness of the participant’s response. Second, with careful attention, unplanned moments and spontaneous conversations can be turned into sources for valuable insight. Third, pushing the boundaries of social norms to attain a textbook example of ‘gender balance’ does not necessarily ‘add value’ to the research; instead, is likely to make it more challenging to access the same population for further research. Finally, I reaffirm that being from the same region with a similar background does not make the researcher an ‘insider’. Rather, their positionality becomes more ‘fluid’ and constantly shifts between an insider, an outsider, both, and sometimes none

Epistemology · Ethnography · Field (mathematics · Habitus · Insider · Narrative · Negotiation · Participant observation · Political science · Population · Reflexivity · Social capital · Social science · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · South Asian Studies and Conflicts · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies