title: Navigating fieldwork politics, practicalities and ethics in the upland borderlands of northern Vietnam.
abstract: In this article, I detail and evaluate the negotiations I had to broker to conduct ethnographic research on marketplace vendors and trade in the upland borderlands of northern Vietnam. Working with the analogy of the numerous 'lines' I was constrained by, had to manoeuvre around, and at times crossed over, I begin with a discussion of the 'official lines' or state regulations imposed upon my research and how I worked with, or negotiated these limitations. I then reveal the important 'border guards' or gatekeepers, such as local state actors and also field assistants, who enabled or constrained access to informants in numerous different ways. I also highlight the logistical and practical lines that I had to accept and indeed, often draw, to accomplish my study. I conclude with a consideration of how friendships in the field drew me beyond the lines I had originally drawn around my research. These relationships furthered my anxiety over the possibilities for conducting research that ultimately contributes towards social justice in a constrained political setting such as that which presently characterises Vietnam.
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bonnin
mesh_terms: D000884:Anthropology, Cultural / Q000193:education / Q000266:history; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004989:Ethics / Q000266:history; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000193:education / Q000208:ethnology / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000523:psychology; D015588:Observer Variation; D012108:Research Personnel / Q000193:education / Q000266:history / Q000523:psychology; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012423:Rural Health / Q000266:history; D012424:Rural Population / Q000266:history; D012924:Social Conditions / Q000191:economics / Q000266:history / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D011049:Social Control Policies / Q000266:history; D014744:Vietnam / Q000208:ethnology