The unexpected gifts of life history as an ethnographic method

Abstract

This article offers methodological reflections on my experiences using life history within two distinct ethnographic projects in Indonesia: the first examining Acehnese conceptualisations of trauma and resilience during Aceh's post-disaster social recovery; and the second examining how midwives in Yogyakarta cultivate trust in healthcare. The article discusses the unexpected insights and benefits that life history brought to these ethnographic projects, and points to some of its ethical complexities. More than a means of gathering information, our research methods ultimately create our relationships to our research participants and fieldsites, to the intellectual and political possibilities within our work, and to other scholarly communities and publics. As anthropology continues its shift towards more collaborative approaches, life history deserves a central role in the ethnographic toolkit, as a process for supporting the co-production of knowledge, and as a window into the multitude of lived experiences and social dynamics that shape our contemporary world.