NOTES

Jeffrey A. Sluka, 1995, "Reflections on Managing Danger in Fieldwork: Dangerous Anthropology in Belfast," in Fieldwork Under Fire: Contemporary Studies of Violence and Survival, Carolyn Nordstrom and Antonius C.G.M. Robben eds., Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, pp. 276-294.

Jeffrey A. Sluka is a Senior Lecturer in Social Anthropology at Massey University in Palmerston North, New Zealand. He is author of the book Hearts and Minds, Water and Fish: Popular Support for the IRA and INLA in a Northern Irish Ghetto.

Sluka's discusses his fieldwork in Catholic-nationalist ghettos of Belfast, Northern Ireland (1981-1982, 1991), on the social dynamics of popular support for the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA). He interviewed individuals in these paramilitary groups and in the general community about more than two decades of urban guerrilla warfare in what he refers to as the "killing fields." His field methods emphasized "hanging out," traveling with, and talking informally with paramilitary members, as well as observing social and political functions such as funerals (280).
In particular, he describes how he planned and implemented the fieldwork in collaboration with local people, including members of the IRA and INLA. He labels this liberation anthropology and stresses that it includes "the politics of truth," presents an inside or participant's view [emic], and humanizes the people. He asserts that this research contrasts with the attempts of the British authorities to vilify and dehumanize these people as part of their counterinsurgency or "psychological warfare" operations. The people he worked with recognized that an objective academic study could not be readily dismissed as propaganda (278-279).

This was dangerous anthropology. A political scientist, Adrian Guelke, and an anthropologist, Miriam Daly, independently studying aspects of political violence in Belfast, were shot. The former survived, but the latter died (280, 288). Sluka mentions other cases of anthropologists in the field being killed, attacked, imprisoned, tortured, etc. He cites and briefly discusses some pertinent literature (291). Also Sluka says that he has been threatened by Loyalists since he left Belfast (286).

The last half of his chapter provides more general comments and recommendations about danger management and impression management as part of the methodology of anthropological fieldwork in situations of political instability, conflict, violence, warfare, and insurgency. These are pertinent to anthropologists who work in a world which is becoming increasingly dangerous in many regions. About one-third of the world's countries are involved in some kind of warfare, while about two-thirds regularly resort to abuses of human rights as normal components of their political process (276-277). (Sluka's observations are relevant to peace and human rights activists as well as anthropologists involved in basic, applied, and/or advocacy fieldwork).
The danger is even greater for the partisan anthropologist, one who participates in political activities or takes sides in a conflict. The danger is not only personal, but also there is more of a problem in maintaining objectivity (286-287). Sluka believes that in fieldwork "... to a substantial degree the dangers faced by anthropologists can be mediated through foresight, planning, and skillful maneuver" (277).

Here is a summary of his general comments and recommendations on eight main points:

1. HOMEWORK Before entering the field assess as realistically as feasible the degree, sources, and types of actual and potential danger, and then the kinds of actions that might ameliorate or manage them, and the kinds of actions that might exacerbate them (282).

2. ESCAPE AND CONTINGENCY PLANS (282).

3. FUNDING SOURCES Be careful about sources of research funds because some could jeopardize rapport with the host community (282-283).

4. OPENNESS Be as honest, candid, complete, and accurate as possible about who you really are and what you are really doing. As far as is feasible monitor and check any false or misleading public interpretations, suspicions, and rumors about these matters (283-284, 289).

5. AVOID BEING THREATENING Avoid asking questions which are taboo, or about sensitive political topics or illegal activities. At the beginning, keep your eyes and ears open, but your mouth shut! Behave and speak in such a manner as to be seen as not any threat (283-284).

6. NEUTRAL Neutrality can be a good danger management strategy, but not always, and it is not always feasible (287-287). The more controversial or political the topic researched, the more likely the researcher will be suspected of bias or partisanship (289).

7. REALISTIC Fieldwork in dangerous situations is not a game or adventure, do not become complacent about dangers (potential as well as actual), and do not ignore potential threats when they arise. There is an element of luck as well as knowledge and skill in survival and success in fieldwork in dangerous contexts. Danger is not a purely "technical" problem and never totally manageable (289-290).

8. SECURE INFORMATION Secure any field notes, cassette tape recordings, and other data in terms of information content which could be dangerous to anyone and to guard against confiscation or theft (285-286).

Sluka concludes: "Fieldwork is possible even in the most dangerous contexts. Anthropologists should not select themselves out of research in such contexts on the basis of stereotypes, media images, or inadequate information concerning the dangers involved. And they should not select themselves out of such research because training in managing such dangers is not provided in anthropology. Many more anthropologists could and should do fieldwork in these areas. The dangers are often exaggerated, and in most cases they are not insurmountable.... The world is not becoming a safer place for the pursuit of anthropological fieldwork, but, perhaps for that very reason, there is more need now for such research than there has ever been before. We can meet this challenge, but we should do so rationally by considering the dangers as methodological issues in their own right" (290-291).

Selected References

Fluehr-Lobban, Carolyn, 1991. Ethics and the Profession of Anthropology: Dialogue for a New Era. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Howell, Nancy, 1990, Surviving Fieldwork, Washington, D.C.: American Anthropological Association.

Lee, Raymond M., 1995, Dangerous Fieldwork, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Thomas, Jim, 1993, Doing Critical Ethnography, Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Also see periodicals, reports, case documents, and websites on human rights by Amnesty International, Cultural Survival, Human Rights Watch, International Workgroup for Indigenous Affairs, Survival International, United Nations, U.S. State Department, etc.