Essay on The Role of the Reflexive Ethnographer

Taking from Crenshaw, Smith notes that an intersectional approach supports keeping matters of rape, race, and all types of oppression together instead of only calling for those things when convenient. Regarding those who sought to separate the issues, Smith presents counter opinions on what else Native women need from “outsiders” to aid healing from the atrocities of genocide and colonialism. Intersectional approach regarding violence against Native women relates to marrying all forms of oppression suffered and experienced by native women. Smith believes all else fall short when treated as separate entities.

they perform the bulk of their work, and what it is they do in both problem

James P. Spradley (1979) described the insider approach to understanding culture as "a quiet revolution" among the social sciences (p. iii). Cultural anthropologists, however, have long emphasized the importance of the ethnographic method, an approach to understanding a different culture through participation, observation, the use of key informants, and interviews. Cultural anthropologists have employed the ethnographic method in an attempt to surmount several formidable cultural questions: How can one understand another's culture? How can culture be qualitatively and quantitatively assessed? What aspects of a culture make it unique and which connect it to other cultures? If

This study examines Horace Miner’s essay “Body Rituals Among the Nacirema. While using the participant observation approach, he gives us a new perspective on the daily behaviors within this group of people. Exploring ethnocentrism and how we view cultures outside of our own.

In Tsida’s writing, she explains how native anthropology is supposed to provide the anthropologist with “superior access, rapport, and empathy”, that in turn should lead the anthropologist’s studies to be less objective and more “emic, sensitive, and authentic” (Brondo 44). Native anthropology is meant to provide a closer and more developed look into research due to the anthropologists’ deeper connection and roots with the environment and informants he or she is studying. A non-native anthropologist is believed to conduct a less culturally adapt and sincere representation of the people and society they are studying. The native anthropologist shares the cultures they are studying with their informants; therefore, it is believed that the native anthropologist would be more “culturally sensitive” and “locally relevant” in contrast with the non-native; resulting in a more precise ethnographic perspective to the culture they are

It is first important to define what ethnography is because it is a prominent method that social scientists use in their research (Roy, lecture 4). Professor Roy defines ethnography as looking at culture – a methodological skill of observation in a natural setting. Chambliss was able to do this with his qualitative research at Hanibal. Qualitative research, compared to quantitative, is often characterized by a depth of information from a limited number of cases (Ragin & Amoroso 28). This type of study relies on the human component of interaction in the real world. Chambliss actively engaged with

In this paper, I have showed my case as to why I believe the American Anthropological Association’s statements are inconsistent and self-defeating. I presented what I believed their position was in an unbiased and charitable position as possible. I also showed that they could neither endorse the Ayaan Hirsi Ali movement to help women nor could the condemn honor violence. I finally revealed what I believed the weaknesses of their argument were. The statements of the AAA show what happens when people rely on emotion apart from

In this essay, I will be creating a discourse on anthropological activism and how it relates to the basic principles of anthropology, whilst referring to the case study Activist Anthropologists by Victoria Sanford. I will provide my anthropological views on this subject based on my research.

Anthropologists conduct research in order to answer specific questions about a particular group of people and their culture. Most anthropologists use fieldwork to collect their data, which is then interpreted within their ethnographic writing. When collecting their data, anthropologists use many different approaches such as developing relationships with their informants, but do not illustrate these relationships in their actual writing. Anthropologists Claire E. Sterk and Philippe Bourgois are two of the anthropologists that emphasize their relationships and the importance of gaining trust of their informants in their perspective articles studied. In Bourgois’ article “Crack in Spanish Harlem” and Sterk’s article “Tricking and Tripping:

The title for the position itself expresses the need for a focus on qualitative methods, which as stated above has been greatly crafted through the combination of tools and methods learned in the discipline. The section, Primary Purpose, calls even further for a need of expertise in qualitative and mixed method research. Regarding quantitative methods, anthropologists would likely develop these skills, perhaps not to a similar level of expertise as those of qualitative methods. However, by using a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods it would not be a major weakness in this context as expertise in qualitative methods can support those in quantitative. As the primary purpose, it is clear that this strength of anthropology is the most fundamental within this context. It is with this skill that they would find a great deal of success, if they are able to surpass the challenge of communication and interpersonal connection as will be discussed

These three authors all have their own personal suggestion on how cultural anthropology should moving as it enters the early 21st century, however, I can relate the most with the Robbins article because he criticizes anthropology’s universalistic approach toward suffering over the last several decades. He offered a new concept that will push anthropology to departure from the focus on the subject living in pain, in poverty, or under conditions of oppression, which so long has been at the center of anthropological work in the past. Robbins tries to warn future anthropologist has begun to risk relinquishing its special role of insisting on bringing questions of cultural difference to bear on all manner of intellectual discussions. Robbin seeks to turn attention towards anthropology and showing how anthropology as a field can move forward without removing the basis of cultural theory but restructuring it to be useful in today’s context.

The American Anthropological Association Ethics Committee Case Studies attempt to bring light to some of the problems anthropologists encounter in the field while distinguishing what’s is right from what’s wrong. Case two concludes by laying a ground rule for the practice of anthropology which states that before any data is collected one must know who the data is for. Furthermore, case five revolves around the dilemma of anonymity. Afterwards, case 22 directs more its focus towards whether or not to reveal information which the “consultants” are opposed to being revealed. I agree with the realization Vaughn made. By determining who the data is for many disputes can be prevented. As far as case five, I think it is important to maintain the identity

Malinowski’s most prominent contribution to ethnography and fieldwork was his method of research - participant observation, his own form of conducting fieldwork. Participant observation is the method giving researchers the ability to gain understanding of the activities of the people under study in the natural setting through observing and participating in those activities. It gives access to the context for development of sampling guidelines and interview guides (DeWalt & DeWalt, 2002). However, fieldwork involves "active looking, improving memory, informal interviewing,

Individual experience and reflexivity ought to be utilized inside humanities as an instrument to ponder the society that is consistently mulled over and not a refocusing of consideration on the self. Works, for example, Dorinne Kondo 's "Disintegration and Reconstitution of Self," utilize the thought of reflexivity as a mirror in which to view the society being considered in an alternate way. This utilization of reflexivity considers the center to stay on the society being concentrated on. A move far from this is the new limb of humanistic human studies spoke to in this article by Renato Rosaldo 's "Sadness and a Headhunter 's Rage" and Ruth Behar 's "Humanities that Breaks Your Heart" permits anthropologists to utilize reflexivity as an approach to investigate widespread human emotions. For me, this is not the investigation of human sciences as much as reflexive toward oneself brain science. The center movements from society to self. The anthropologists totally comprehends the emotions of the individuals he/she is contemplating. I believe that it is fairly goal-oriented to express that feeling is univeral, and I don 't feel that it is the employment of anthropologists to do so. The reflexive voice is an essential part of ethnographic written work, however the anthropologist must be mindful so as not to move center from focusing on society to focusing on herself.

She makes an important point when trying to go beyond the female (otherness), by paying careful attention to differences among women themselves, and by putting emphasize on the multiple realties that women faces, and by that trying to uncover universalist interpretations (Parpart and Marchand 1995:6). She reveals the inadequacy of binary categories by showing us how power is defined in binary terms, between the people who have (men) and the people who do not (women). This is a consequence of seeing women as a homogenous group, and contributes to the reinforcement of the binary division between men and women (Mohanty 1991:64). By assuming that women are a already constituted group with the same experiences and interests, gender is looked upon as something that can be applied cross cultures (Mohanty 1991:54), and it also produces an assumption about the “average third world woman” as poor and uneducated, in contrast to the educated, modern Western women (Mohanty 1991:56). Implicit in the binary analytic lies the assumption that the third world woman only can be liberated through western rationality. Mohanty is making an important point when emphasising the need to challenge these objectifications (Udayagiri 1995:163).