Ethnography is a qualitative research method that aims to lend insight into the workings of human activity. It has the particularity that the ethnographer is the actual data collection instrument. Because of this, one of the challenges ethnographers face as positioned observers is maintaining a studied self-reflexivity throughout their work. The end result of an ethnographer's research is usually a written account of what they have observed and understood about the people they studied. The applicability of anthropological ethnographic inquiry goes beyond academia, and can guide policies and laws, infrastructure and agricultural development, marketing campaigns, and health and education programs, among others. South Africa and Sweden collaborate on many social, educational, ecological and commercial activities in Southern Africa, where ethnographic information can provide a rich and solid foundation for the best approaches and outcomes. Through this workshop, we will share some of the methods and ethical considerations that guided our own ethnographic inquiry while doing fieldwork in Mozambique.
Our presentation includes interactive group activities to engage our audience in a dynamic exchange of knowledge and views throughout the workshop. The proposed structure is as follows:
1. Workshop outline and meet and greet between facilitators and attendees
2. Introduction to ethnographic fieldwork terminology and techniques and positionality of the researcher in the field
3. Group activity: “Going into the field”. Audience participants interact with each other in ficticious scenarios, sharing possible ethnographic strategies and tools and reflecting on their positionality
4. Break
5. Judith Vincent: ethnographic fieldwork experience in Inhambane
6. Maria Rosa Rodner: ethnographic fieldwork experience in Provincia de Maputo
7. Q&A session
Keywords: ethnographic fieldwork, provincial Mozambique, South-east Africa, rural societal resilience and sustainability, youth and adolescent studies.
