Do Locals Need Our Help? On Participatory Research in Anthropology

Abstract

Here I argue that anthropologists, whether we want it or not, affect the localities and the people at our fieldwork sites. These effects can be short, medium or long-term, depending on the place and the circumstances. Short term help may mean helping to pick up fruit or vegetables for dinner or lend a hand during the harvest. Mid-term engagement may mean to set up a school for local teachers wanting to learn anthropological methods or participate over the years in a single project helping with help, funds, or both. Long-term projects may include setting up museums and helping support them through foreign donations or working with locals through the mediation of a foreign or world-wide institution such as the World Health Organization or the United Nations. There are specialty areas, such as medical anthropology, which could seem to have the in-built purpose of achieving long-term effects, but most other anthropological work does not fall within these categories and anthropologists can choose when and how to commit to local welfare depending on their circumstances and those of their hosts. Here I discuss the ways in which different anthropologists have chosen to engage with locals during and after fieldwork.