Hi
Interesting discussion indeed. Just want to ask some questions.
Agree that the term 'informant' has different connotations, but we can also find various connotations for the terms 'respondent', 'participant' and 'collaborator'. If we stop using the terms because of their origins or history, then we might have to find other words for 'anthropology' and 'culture'.
If 'they' are our respondents, then who are 'we'?
Also consider the term 'teacher'. We, the anthropologists, often say that people do not really mean what they say. So, do the 'teachers' not really mean what they say?
Whatever term we use, it would certainly have some connotations. But before using any term, we should be careful about the relationship between us and the people we study (is 'study' a right term?).
Regards
Sajjad
________________________________
From: The Anthropology-Matters forum mailing list <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Ellen Foster <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 05 March 2019 10:29 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: the problematic term: informant
Great inquiry/provocation and ensuing discussion.
This may or may not be of interest, but I am including/sharing a piece by
Kim TallBear who currently works in the Canadian context and writes about
"Standing with" vs "Giving back" in the communities involved in her
research and methods of community-based participatory research.
On Tue, Mar 5, 2019 at 11:16 AM Rafique Wassan <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:
> Hi anthro friends,
>
> Inspiring debate, just add to the discussion my engaged research work on
> Sufi heritage in Sindh region in Pakistan, I attend Sufi festivals and work
> with the participants attending these festivals I feel easy with the word
> participants and don't use 'informants'.
>
> regards,
>
> Rafique
> Walter Benjamin Kolleg
> Graduate School of Humanities
> University of Bern
> Switzerland
>
> ________________________________
> From: The Anthropology-Matters forum mailing list <
> [log in to unmask]> on behalf of Stuart Wright <
> [log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 5, 2019 3:51 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: the problematic term: informant
>
> Dear all,
>
> Interesting discussion. For what it’s worth, a couple of sentences from my
> recent thesis methodology: “I have generally avoided the word ‘informant’
> simply because of its unsettling connotations of espionage. Instead, I use
> the term ‘respondent’ to refer to all interviewees whose interviews were
> ultimately translated and transcribed in a numbered transcript; more
> broadly, I use the term ‘interlocutors’ to refer to all interview
> respondents as well as participants of relatively informal and unstructured
> ‘conversations’ recorded in fieldnotes”. My fieldwork was done in northeast
> Tibet, hence thinking in terms of ‘informants’ seemed extremely
> problematic. Not that I was openly discussing ‘respondents’ either, but I
> am often surprised when researchers working in the same context refer to
> their ‘informants’ without any apparent hesitation.
>
> ‘Partners’ seems like such a horrible alternative – such a buzzword in
> NGOs and CSR departments etc.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Stuart
>
>
> --------------------
> Stuart J. Wright
> School of East Asian Studies (SEAS)
> University of Sheffield, UK
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 5 Mar 2019, at 05:45, Michele Feder-Nadoff <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Colleagues,
> >
> > Please send me any of your ideas, opinions, links to articles regarding
> the term “informant” and possible alternate terms.
> >
> > This term points to all the colonial history and ethical problems (in
> anthropology) and guides us to act as spies in our research ethnography.
> >
> > Thank you for your thoughts and suggestions.
> >
> > best,
> >
> > Michele
> >
> >
> > Michele A. Feder-Nadoff, Ph.D.
> >
> > "Se hace camino al andar.” Antonio Machado
> >
> > Artista-Antropóloga
> > Poland 48 796 722 920
> > Mexico 52 55 5139 3764
> >
> > www.michelefeder-nadoff.com<http://www.michelefeder-nadoff.com<http://www.michelefeder-nadoff.com<http://www.michelefeder-nadoff.com>> <
> http://www.michelefeder-nadoff.com/>
> >
> >
> http://www.oarplatform.com/un-finishing-research-towards-an-anthropology-of-making-and-perhaps-un-making/
> <
> http://www.oarplatform.com/un-finishing-research-towards-an-anthropology-of-making-and-perhaps-un-making/
> >
> >
> > https://colmich.academia.edu/MFederNadoff <
> https://colmich.academia.edu/MFederNadoff>
> >
> >
> http://neotericart.com/2018/02/21/tunneling-towards-light-interview-michele-feder-nadoff-david-richards/
> <
> http://neotericart.com/2018/02/21/tunneling-towards-light-interview-michele-feder-nadoff-david-richards/
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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Ellen K Foster, PhD
Science and Technology Studies
Postdoctoral Researcher
Engineering Education Dept., Purdue University
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