Ethnographic fieldwork among local in-laws

Collaborative research has received increasing attention in and beyond anthropology. This article describes research in which collaboration is not consciously built into the research design, but in which collaboration is a given, due to the researcher being accompanied during the research process. More specifically, it discusses the implications of having a romantic partner or spouse originating from the region where the anthropological research is being conducted. In contrast, anthropologists have reflected on the influence that collaborators such as assistants exert in the course of ethnographic fieldwork, and more recently, also on the influence of accompanying family members. Building on this literature, we argue that a similar reflection on the role of romantic partners and ‘local’ in-laws might be warranted and can be an asset in ethnographic writing. Such transparency speaks to both the ethical concern of giving credit where credit is due, as well as to the epistemological concern to make the research process insightful and comprehensible. By reflecting on our own experiences of conducting research in the home regions of our spouses in Tanzania and China respectively, we discuss the implications of having ‘local’ partners and in-laws for the data collection process, for positionality and access, and for writing

Acknowledgement · Asset (computer security) · Ethnography · Participant observation · Spouse · Taboo · Tanzania · Transparency (behavior) · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Data Analysis and Archiving · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics