insider/outsider

PATSY EVANS (PATSY@AAA.MHS.COMPUSERVE.COM)
Fri, 21 Jul 1995 10:52:43 EDT

I have been talking [off-list] with a few people about insider/outsider
issues in anthropological field work. I am trying to compile a
bibliography where such issues are discussed, as well as a different
take, that of researchers with some commonalities and/or differences from
their subjects. For example, were I to do an ethnography about a social
group to which I belong, it would be insider ethnography [even though I
might have personal differences with other members] ; were a second
generation South Asian immigrant to Toronto to do an ethnography about
South Asians in London or a person with a Greek grandmother to do
ethnographic work in Greece, those ethnographers would have some
commonalities with their subjects, some understanding of some terms, but
differences of many sorts. I am particularly interested in theoretical
references, as well as works which just describe the conundrums involved.

Patsy Evans
American Anthropological Association
e-mail: patsy@AAA.MHS.compuserve.com