Vulnerable Witness : The Politics of Grief in the Field

Scholars and practitioners who witness violence and loss in human, animal, and ecological contexts are expected to have no emotional connection to the subjects they study. Yet is this possible? Following feminist traditions, __Vulnerable Witness__ centers the researcher and challenges readers to reflect on how grieving is part of the research process and, by extension, is a political act. Through thirteen reflective essays the book theorizes the role of grief in the doing of research—from methodological choices, fieldwork and analysis, engagement with individuals, and places of study to the manner in which scholars write and talk about their subjects. Combining personal stories from early career scholars, advocates, and senior faculty, the book shares a breadth of emotional engagement at various career stages and explores the transformative possibilities that emerge from being enmeshed with one's own research. Cover 1 Vulnerable Witness 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 CONTENTS 6 Acknowledgments 10 Introduction 12 1. “With You, Time Flowed Like Water”: Geographies of Grief across International Research Collaborations 39 2. Grieving Guinea Pigs: Reflections on Research and Shame in Peru 51 3. An Immigrant in Academia: Navigating Grief and Privilege 65 4. The Mongoose Trap: Grief, Intervention, and the Impossibility of Professional Detachment 79 5. The Authentic Hypocrisy of Ecological Grief 91 6. Scale-Blocking Grief: Witnessing the Intimate between a Conflict Leopard and Confinement 102 7. On Missing People in the Field 113 8. Grieving Daughter, Grieving Witness 124 9. The Researcher-Witness of Violence against Queers: One Scholar-Activist’s Pathway through Lament 139 10. Unsteady Hands: Care and Grief for Conservation Subjects 150 11. Grieving Salmon and the Politics of Collective Ecological Fieldwork 161 12. Witnessing Grief: Feminist Perspectives on the Loss-Body-Mind-Self-Other Nexus and Permission to Express Feelings 173 13. Self-Care and Trauma: Locating the Time and Space to Grieve 185 Epilogue 198 Contributors 210 Index 216 Scholars and practitioners who witness violence and loss in human, animal, and ecological contexts are expected to have no emotional connection to the subjects they study. Yet is this possible? Following feminist traditions, Vulnerable Witness centers the researcher and challenges readers to reflect on how grieving is part of the research process and, by extension, is a political act. Through thirteen reflective essays the book theorizes the role of grief in the doing of research—from methodological choices, fieldwork and analysis, engagement with individuals, and places of study to the manner in which scholars write and talk about their subjects. Combining personal stories from early career scholars, advocates, and senior faculty, the book shares a breadth of emotional engagement at various career stages and explores the transformative possibilities that emerge from being enmeshed with one's own research.  "Grieving Witnesses: The Politics of Grief in the Field centers reflections on grieving as part of the research process and, by extension, as a political act of witnessing. The book theorizes the role of grief in the doing of research - in methodological choices, fieldwork and analysis, engagement with the individuals, populations, and places we study, the way scholars write and talk about their subjects, and the ethical dimensions of these encounters. Each chapter offers a grounded engagement with the act of research through narrative and autoethnographic reflections, drawing together those who study and grieve humans, animals, and the environment"--Provided by publisher "Grieving Witnesses: The Politics of Grief in the Field centers reflections on grieving as part of the research process and, by extension, as a political act of witnessing. The book theorizes the role of grief in the doing of research - in methodological choices, fieldwork and analysis, engagement with the individuals, populations, and places we study, the way scholars write and talk about their subjects, and the ethical dimensions of these encounters. Each chapter offers a grounded engagement with the act of research through narrative and autoethnographic reflections, drawing together those who study and grieve humans, animals, and the environment"-- Fourni par l'éditeur