Between 2001 and 2008, I spent more than two years in the Democratic republic of Congo: after a first experience in an NGO (Equator region), I 'converted' to anthropology and went to North Kivu for the purpose of my field research. In this paper, I will focus on the differences between the two roles (humanitarian and anthropologist) I experienced in Congo. As a socially situated actor, the way I was perceived was the product of unequal power relationships that shape local representations. Ethnographic research, unlike my previous experience in the NGO, gave me the opportunity to challenge these cultural representations, rooted in history and embodied by Africans. Besides, I will show how it was possible for me to do fieldwork in this violent and deadly context, explaining the reasons why I managed to ‘survive’ in Congo. Fieldwork in a unpredictable and dangerous context requires quick adaptation, autonomy and improvisation: briefly, to carry out my research I had to follow what Article 15 prescribes, as most of Congolese do.
L. Jourdan (2013). From Humanitarian to Anthropologist. Writing at the Margins of an Ethnographic Research in the Democratic Republic of Congo. LONDON : Palgrave Macmillan..
From Humanitarian to Anthropologist. Writing at the Margins of an Ethnographic Research in the Democratic Republic of Congo
JOURDAN, LUCA
2013
Abstract
Between 2001 and 2008, I spent more than two years in the Democratic republic of Congo: after a first experience in an NGO (Equator region), I 'converted' to anthropology and went to North Kivu for the purpose of my field research. In this paper, I will focus on the differences between the two roles (humanitarian and anthropologist) I experienced in Congo. As a socially situated actor, the way I was perceived was the product of unequal power relationships that shape local representations. Ethnographic research, unlike my previous experience in the NGO, gave me the opportunity to challenge these cultural representations, rooted in history and embodied by Africans. Besides, I will show how it was possible for me to do fieldwork in this violent and deadly context, explaining the reasons why I managed to ‘survive’ in Congo. Fieldwork in a unpredictable and dangerous context requires quick adaptation, autonomy and improvisation: briefly, to carry out my research I had to follow what Article 15 prescribes, as most of Congolese do.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
