April 17th, 2024
In a recent Times Higher Education article, Michel Anteby, Professor of Management and Organizations, discusses his new book, The Interloper: Lessons from Resistance in the Field.
Anteby explores the phenomenon of resistance in ethnographic research through diverse projects studying various groups. Anteby argues that the process of gaining access to research subjects is itself valuable fieldwork, as it reveals important dynamics.
“Whenever I feel access is too easy, I become very uncomfortable. Some of my colleagues will run with it and are overjoyed that doors are opening up, but to me it codes as a bit suspicious,” Anteby adds.
Researchers should see obstacles as opportunities for understanding hidden tensions and histories rather than as hurdles.
