The interpretation of relationships: Fieldwork as boundary-negotiation

Following critiques of anthropologists’ involvement in colonialism and insufficient attention to power, friendship, solidarity, and closeness have become implicit ideals for fieldwork relationships. But distance is also inherent to respectful fieldwork relationships. I therefore argue for greater attention to boundaries—the ways we are able to mutually understand in the midst of, rather than by dissolving, difference and distance—and the labor and finesse that go into negotiating them. Foregrounding boundary work allows for a greater honesty about fieldwork relationships and facilitates the broadness of spirit that is the discipline’s hallmark. It also helps people who are most engaged in boundary work to grapple with it and not see that work as failure, weakness, or their taking “risks.” And it further helps one avoid imposing one’s own social ideals for egalitarianism or intimacy on one’s interlocutors. Boundaries are not the enemy of mutual understanding and integrity; in fact, boundaries facilitate them.