Discomfort in Ethnography. Methodological questions, choices and tools in sensitive contexts
Résumé
This article discusses ethnographic research conditions in “sensitive” or “dangerous” field sites, especially in areas of conflict and violence, drawing on recent short fieldwork in Western Sahara. The reflection considers different situations that cause discomfort for the researcher in these field sites as well as the heuristic opportunities that this discomfort generates for the ethnographer, obliging him to renew his approaches, reconsider his objectives, and rethink his relationship with the field and his interlocutors.