Messy Fieldwork: A Natural Necessity or a Result of Western Origins and Perspectives?

With this Provocation, we aim at starting a dialogue between researchers who struggle with applying qualitative and ethnographic methods and following approaches in non-Western settings. Going by the book might not be an option when conducting research in politically charged or un-stable regions. Local politics, social pressure and even people's personal safety are aspects that require consideration. Based on our experience from conducting fieldwork in Morocco, Palestine and Botswana, we reflect upon the difficulties we came across. We argue that, messiness, to some extent comes naturally with immersive fieldwork. On the other hand, in order to find 'clean' ways of conducting ethnographic fieldwork in non-Western contexts, novel forms of (applying) methods are needed. By providing questions regarding three different aspects (applying methods on the Ground, Ethics, and Participation) we encourage researchers to reflect upon their own experiences.