The Shadow Side of Fieldwork

Exploring the Blurred Borders between Ethnography and Life

Annette Leibing editor Athena McLean editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Published:9th Aug '07

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

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The Shadow Side of Fieldwork cover

TheShadow Side of Fieldwork draws attention to the typically hidden or unacknowledged aspects of ethnographic fieldwork encounters that nevertheless shape the resulting knowledge and texts. Addressing these invisible, elusive, unspoken or mysterious elements introduces a distinctive rigor and responsibility to ethnographic research.


  • Luminaries in anthropology dare to explore the 'unspeakable' and 'invisible' in the ethnographic encounter
  • Considers personal and professional challenges (ethical, epistemological, and political) faced by researchers who examine the subjectivities inherent in their ethnographic insights
  • Explores the value, and limitations, of addressing the personal in ethnographic research
  • Includes a critical discussion of the anthropologist’s self in the field
  • Introduces imaginative rigor to ethnographic research to heighten confidence in anthropological knowledge

"Important and invaluable ... .This book brings that totality out of the shadows and into the light. It is written in an accessible manner and should inform teaching of research methods at both an undergraduate and postgraduate level, being a core text in the latter. It should be a companion guide to us all." (Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, September 2009)

"There are some fabulous papers in here: thought provoking, stimulating, well-written, clever papers." (Anthropological Forum, July 2009)

ISBN: 9781405169813

Dimensions: 246mm x 173mm x 18mm

Weight: 576g

328 pages