Title: Fieldwork in Anthropology – Veganthropology
Headings: Fieldwork in Anthropology
Fieldwork in Anthropology
When did anthropologists begin doing fieldwork?
Why is fieldwork important?
How is fieldwork done?
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Content: This led to them being referred to as ‘armchair anthropologists, because they did their research from the comfort of home. This approach was challenged by Bronisław Malinowski (see 10 Famous Cultural Anthropologists ), one of the founding fathers of anthropology, who advocated the importance of actually travelling to a community and living with, speaking with and taking part in the everyday lives of the locals. Although anthropologists had been going into the field for quite some time before Malinowski’s ideas, their methods and attitudes to fieldwork were quite different, so the general consensus amongst anthropologists is that Malinowski is responsible (not for the creation) but promotion of the new ‘intensive personal fieldwork’ methods that “revolutionized the content and practice of anthropology” (Wax, 1972, pp.2-3). Over the years the nature of fieldwork has changed and updated but essentially follows the same core ideals that personal experience is necessary for painting an accurate picture of peoples’ lives. Why is fieldwork important? Through their work in the field, anthropologists are able to not only develop the essential skills needed to be an effective anthropologist, but to gain an intimate and detailed understanding of the lives of the people they study. This understanding comes from an individual’s experiences of social actions and relations in context, there is no real way to gain the same effect from reading reports or hearing the information second hand. It allows the anthropologist to inhabit and convey situations from an ‘insider’s perspective’ and offer information for anthropological interpretation. So it is extremely important within the academic field, but it can also be a very eye opening process, possibly leading outsiders (the anthropologist and their readers) to look at the world in new and unexpected ways. Fieldwork can also be important for biological anthropologists, especially archaeologists, whose research may not focus on a social group but could require them to enter the field.