Towards a 'Committed Encounter' : participatory action research and restitution with street children (La Paz, Bolivia)
Résumé
Through a reading of a voluntary collaboration undertaken in a 'rehabilitation center' for street children in Bolivia, which became ethnographic fieldwork, I revisit how restitution was constructed between the different actors and the ethnologist. In particular, I will demonstrate how restitution is closely linked to ethnographic research, and how it takes shape as a result of the reactions, explanations, analyses, and proposals from the children. After defining the concept of 'committed encounter', the latter being a prerequisite for restitution, I will highlight some more general methodological lessons on how to conduct anthropology with children.