Fieldwork in shared spaces: positionality, power and ethics of citizen anthropologists in southern Africa

Abstract

The paper reflects on the ethical complexities of fieldwork ‘at home’ in Cape Town, South Africa and Namibia. It draws on Cheater's (1987) idea of the ‘citizen anthropologist’ to consider the obligations of resident anthropologists to the subjects of their research. It shows the shifts in understandings of research and the research relationship and explores the power dynamics of such relationships. It argues that anthropologists should be viewed in terms of situated identifications in order to lead the ethics debate towards more historically and politically conscious considerations.