Saldanha and Klopfer “On Seeing Monkeys, Cows, and Beggars: Between Ethnography and Tourism” (2014)
Saldhana and Klopfer suggest that how you dress, and even how you sit or stand can affect one’s relationship with research subjects. How might such concerns make fieldwork very difficult?
How does ethnography differ from what the Saldhana and Klopfer call “research tourism”?
Briefly summarize two cultural encounters that the authors find problematic. What does this suggest about the challenges of studying and understanding other people’s cultures?
Bourgois, Crack in Spanish Harlem (1989)
What role does racism play in the reproduction of the culture of drugs and addiction described by Bourgois?
What is the “cultural logic” behind expressions of violence in the culture Bourgois describes?
Why does Bourgois argue that drug dealers in Spanish Harlem are pursuing the American Dream?
Mulock, Ethnography in Awkward Spaces: An Anthropology of Cultural Borrowing
Briefly describe the kind of “cultural borrowing” that Mulock explores in this article. Why is such borrowing problematic?
Why did the author hesitate to carry out research among Australian aborigines (indigenous Australians)?
What insights does this provide into the way culture is appropriated by New Age groups. What motivates white Australians to participate in such appropriation?
Briefly describe how the author undertook her field research. Why did she find it so “awkward”?
Sample Solution
