How can we rethink fieldwork across disciplines?

Speaker(s):

Lucrezia Gigante, Manas Murthy Kallakuri , University of Glasgow

Abstract:

We propose a kitchen table session that invites multiple voices and perspectives to the wonder presented in our lightning talk. While dialogic and responsive in nature, the session will be structured around four key themes that have been co-selected with fellow attendees through board conversations and a group meeting. The themes include: - Positionality and Identity (insider/outsider status, place-based identity, lived experience, embodied knowledge) - Ethics and Institutional Constraints (bias, existing academic paradigms, cultural interpretations, and the pressures of institutional frameworks) - Temporality and Research Journeys (challenges, trauma from the field, time boundaries) - Methods and Tools (research skills and training) For each theme, we invite two respondents to share a vignette from their research experience, before opening the floor to reflections from the other participants in the session. The session’s overarching thread is discussing an alternative paradigm for fieldwork that reflects the complexities on the ground. We are aiming for people from all disciplines to reflect on their experiences as researchers to challenge the status quo as to what is acceptable or governed as fieldwork and as valid data within research. The output will be a co-produced manifesto on what’s next for fieldwork in academic research.