Fieldwork

Working with the Margins: Reflections from an Urban Periphery of Kerala

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What appeared at first as community apathy toward collective initiatives gradually showed itself as a deeper erosion of trust in institutions and in the possibility of meaningful change. Through repeated interactions, focus group discussions, and informal conversations, residents began articulating shared concerns related to flooding, waste accumulation, health risks, and administrative inaction.

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Navigating Field as an In-Between Researcher- Reflections from Assam’s Borderlands

Fieldwork /

Drawing from her ethnographic fieldwork undertaken as a part of doctoral research among the Muslims of char areas of Assam, in this article, Manjita turns inward to reflect on her own insider/outsider positionality and its influence on her early field interactions, including the process of teaching in the char as an ethnographic engagement.

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Encountering Privilege: Accessing the World of the Middle Class in Shimla

Fieldwork /

This fieldwork reflection is on the methodological concerns in accessing privileged groups, including mistrust, time constraints, and the researcher’s ambiguous caste identity. In a caste society, navigating your caste identity with sensitivity is a crucial and essential component of doing fieldwork as a researcher.

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Negotiating Access and Acceptance in the Field: Entering an Unknown Territory

Fieldwork /

Research among the marginalised is not just data collection; it is negotiation, humility, and above all, responsibility. I succeeded in building trust and gaining field access. Although my formal chapter of fieldwork is over, the bond with my participants is still there. Whenever I take a break from work, I come and sit with them and together, we chat and laugh.

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Between Belonging and Distancing: Dilemmas of Performing Brahminhood

Fieldwork /

This article reflects on the dilemmas of performing Brahminhood during ethnographic fieldwork, illustrating how caste identity shapes access, expectations, and interactions. It highlights the researcher’s shifting positionality, fieldwork diplomacy, and negotiated balance between belonging and distancing while “studying up.”

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Trust, Tension, and Testimonies: Navigating FIeldwork as a Dalit Woman Researcher

Fieldwork /

Being born and raised in the same district, it was easier for me to approach people. However, when I explained the purpose of my visit, they often looked at me suspiciously and wondered why I was studying such a topic. They also suspected me of being a government agent working with the police or a journalist who would post all the information on social media or give it to the police, which might bring problems to the community.

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Invisibility and the Convergence of Formal and Informal Practices: Field Reflections on Tracing Early Care Labour Migration of Nursing Students from Kerala to Germany

Fieldwork /

Fieldwork in Kerala revealed how deeply informal practices shaped this migration history—and how such practices resist conventional archival or institutional reconstruction. The lack of documentation is not simply a research obstacle, but a historical phenomenon that must be understood in its own right. Accessing this “invisible” history required cultural and religious literacy, trust-building, and long-term engagement beyond formal interviews.

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