A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Ethnographic challenges to studying the poor in and from the global South (2020)

Stark, Laura (2020). Ethnographic challenges to studying the poor in and from the global South. In Lähdesmäki, Tuuli; Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika; Čeginskas, Viktorija L.A.; Koistinen, Aino-Kaisa (Eds.) Challenges and Solutions in Ethnographic Research : Ethnography with a Twist. Abingdon: Routledge, 131-145. DOI: 10.4324/9780429355608-9

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Stark, Laura

Parent publication: Challenges and Solutions in Ethnographic Research : Ethnography with a Twist

Parent publication editors: Lähdesmäki, Tuuli; Koskinen-Koivisto, Eerika; Čeginskas, Viktorija L.A.; Koistinen, Aino-Kaisa

ISBN: 978-0-367-37688-8

eISBN: 978-0-429-35560-8

Publication year: 2020

Pages range: 131-145

Number of pages in the book: 256

Publisher: Routledge

Place of Publication: Abingdon

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429355608-9

Open Access: Publication channel is not openly available

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/72192

Abstract

The ethnographic challenges of studying urban poor communities in the global South have been rarely addressed from a methodological standpoint. These issues are also relevant to studies of, and work with, migrants from the global South. Based on nearly 300 interviews conducted between 2010 and 2018 in low-income neighbourhoods of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the last 20 of which were conducted through Skype interviews through mobile phone. I discuss the benefits and disadvantages of using Skype for interviewing in the global South. I then consider some challenges of conducting interviews among individuals with extremely low education levels, whose basic needs are not met in their daily lives. These include informed consent, memory and stress, and the meanings of personal data for persons whose lives may be undocumented. I propose third-person elicitation and perceived causation as methods that can be used to circumvent some of these challenges, while arguing that a “Southern” twist is needed away from ethnographic assumptions familiar to ethnographers in wealthier countries, and toward an approach that acknowledges the effects of poverty on persons interviewed by ethnographers in the global South.

Keywords: research methods; ethnography; interview study; challenges; level of education; poverty; research ethics

Free keywords: Global South

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Ministry reporting: Yes

Preliminary JUFO rating: 3