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Digital Fieldwork

Defining an Ethics of Care in Fieldwork: Reflections on the Digital Turn

Gellman Mural Photo

I have a confession to make. I have been avoiding writing this post for a long time, because secretly, I worry that what I have to say about digital fieldwork will be discouraging, unhelpful, or come off as snobbish. But as a political ethnographer committed to transparency and reflective openness, I know we have to […]

Digital Fieldwork in Africa in a Pandemic

Covid-19 hit just as I was about to embark on a summer of fieldwork in 2020 in Uganda and Botswana, followed by research over winter break and the following summer (i.e., 2021) in Mauritania and Namibia.

Virtual Trust: Building Confidence at a Distance

So much of what we do as researchers relies on a foundation of trust built over time with the communities where we carry out research activities. When mutual trust is present, we are invited into the lives, minds, and networks of our research participants, which helps animate our research questions.