Search

Copyright of Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article explores how and to what extent collaborative ethnographic fieldwork enables comparison both inherently and in practical terms. More often than not, ethnographic comparison involves the juxtaposition of studies carried out separately by individuals and relates to comparing arguments rather than empirical incidents. This obscures important contextual specificities across research sites and dilutes the comparative endeavor. We argue that it is necessary to be transparent about the way empirical data are produced for meaningful comparative analysis to be generated. One promising way to ensure this is through a reciprocal engagement with each other's field sites by means of joint fieldwork. This form of collaboration iteratively produces a combination of empirical experiences of bafflement on the one hand and forces the dialogical integration of different epistemological perspectives on the other, which we label "epistemo-methodological disjunctures." Drawing empirically on our collaborative ethnographic research on gang dynamics in Nicaragua and South Africa, we describe how questions surrounding the nature of the object being studied, the practicalities of collaborative comparative ethnography including the importance of understanding each other's "ethnographic ground zero," and the need to reconcile epistemological differences all emerged as critical to shaping the possibilities of comparison. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brian Brazeal, dir. Illusions in Stone. Produced by the Advanced Laboratory for Visual Anthropology. California State University, Chico. Chico: ALVA Productions, 2016. 58 min. www.csuchico.edu/alva/projects/2016/illusions-in-stone.shtml There are no doubt people--and [...]

E. Paul Durrenberger, ed., The Anthropological Study of Class and Class Consciousness (Boulder: University Press of Colorado 2012) PAUL DURRENBERGER'S edited volume comprises an eclectic collection of perspectives. Deploying Marvin [...]

TECPAN GUATEMALA: A MODERN MAYA TOWN IN GLOBAL AND LOCAL CONTEXT. By Edward F. Fischer and Carol Hendrickson. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2003. Pp. 164. $65.00 cloth, $18.95 paper.) COMMUNITIES [...]