Monday, August 25, 2008
Sorry for the lack of update!
I have been busy studying- seriously
Anyhow, here is part of what I have generated outa 2 days
Since I have never blogged about my fieldwork in Northern Thaialnd I thought of sharing this with you guys
Geertz’s article, ‘Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture’ provides us a way in uncovering the agency of the people under the state which is ‘comprehended in ways analogous to totalizing or super-organic models of culture’ (Steedly, 1999). I personally employed this ‘methodology’ when doing fieldwork amongst the Akha in Northern Thailand. Upon arriving at the field, I noticed that many of the Akha were actively in the process of applying for a Thai identification card. By looking at this particular action superficially, it may seem that they were actively identifying with the central control of the Thai state and were hence in the process of being assimilated into Thai society. But, when I probed further, the reasons behind the application of the Thai identification card was almost always not for the purpose of identification with the state. For example, one of my informants- ‘A’ told me that only with an identification card can she then apply for a passport which will in turn allow her to visit her boyfriend in Singapore.
However in the process of doing fieldwork, I noticed that the process of obtaining a ‘Thick Description’ of a particular phenomenon is not an easy task. My informants were constantly weary about my background and were not very willing to reveal a lot of information to me. Not many of them were as straightforward as ‘A’ and I felt that in many occasions I had to interpret their interpretation. By doing so, all I could get at was just a ‘best guess’ (Geertz, 1973) of their actions. Although I felt disheartened, I consoled myself by acknowledging that I attempted to at least provide a thick instead of thin description of things.
My fieldwork amongst the Akha in Northern Thailand has given some weight to Ortner and Sherry’s call to acknowledge the agency of the people under the state. The culture and agency of the people -I believe, still lives under the powerful apparatus of the state.
I have been busy studying- seriously
Anyhow, here is part of what I have generated outa 2 days
Since I have never blogged about my fieldwork in Northern Thaialnd I thought of sharing this with you guys
Geertz’s article, ‘Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture’ provides us a way in uncovering the agency of the people under the state which is ‘comprehended in ways analogous to totalizing or super-organic models of culture’ (Steedly, 1999). I personally employed this ‘methodology’ when doing fieldwork amongst the Akha in Northern Thailand. Upon arriving at the field, I noticed that many of the Akha were actively in the process of applying for a Thai identification card. By looking at this particular action superficially, it may seem that they were actively identifying with the central control of the Thai state and were hence in the process of being assimilated into Thai society. But, when I probed further, the reasons behind the application of the Thai identification card was almost always not for the purpose of identification with the state. For example, one of my informants- ‘A’ told me that only with an identification card can she then apply for a passport which will in turn allow her to visit her boyfriend in Singapore.
However in the process of doing fieldwork, I noticed that the process of obtaining a ‘Thick Description’ of a particular phenomenon is not an easy task. My informants were constantly weary about my background and were not very willing to reveal a lot of information to me. Not many of them were as straightforward as ‘A’ and I felt that in many occasions I had to interpret their interpretation. By doing so, all I could get at was just a ‘best guess’ (Geertz, 1973) of their actions. Although I felt disheartened, I consoled myself by acknowledging that I attempted to at least provide a thick instead of thin description of things.
My fieldwork amongst the Akha in Northern Thailand has given some weight to Ortner and Sherry’s call to acknowledge the agency of the people under the state. The culture and agency of the people -I believe, still lives under the powerful apparatus of the state.
what we could have been, 11:04 PM.
