A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Ethnographic challenges to studying the poor in and from the global South (2020)
Stark, L. (2020). Ethnographic challenges to studying the poor in and from the global South. In T. Lähdesmäki, E. Koskinen-Koivisto, V. L. Čeginskas, & A.-K. Koistinen (Eds.), Challenges and Solutions in Ethnographic Research : Ethnography with a Twist (pp. 131-145). Routledge. https://doi.org/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
Publication open access: Not open
Publication channel open access:
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
Contributing organizations
Ministry reporting: Yes
Reporting Year: 2020
JUFO rating: 3
Parent publication with JYU authors: