Right away, I was captured by Garcia\u2019s ethnographic writing; even with limited descriptions, she manages to create vivid imagery that revealed her connection to the work and even made me feel connected to her work myself. In the introduction, she refers to the importance of \u201cwriting with care,\u201d and I imagine that this was especially difficult (as she demonstrates with her example of the photographs included in her article about an addicted couple) because of how interconnected the town she worked in is. How do we, as ethnographers, ensure the privacy of our subjects while also preserving the integrity of the work? Garcia\u2019s work seems to highlight just how difficult and unclear this can be.<\/p>\n
\u00a0 <\/span>Her work further calls attention to the role of the ethnographer, and how that role affects\u00a0one’s research. For instance, Garcia\u00a0reflects on a conversation she had with a fellow researcher\u00a0who expressed serious frustration with her inability to create trust with the local community; however, she said that Garcia would be able to build this trust rather easily because she \u201cwas one of them\u201d (27). This made me think of my own role in my research. As an outsider, I may be able to bring a new perspective to the subject, but I do find that I must rely more heavily on networking and community connections. I am not an indigenous language speaker from Latin America nor even Latina, and at times, I find that my place as \u201coutsider\u201d does create moments of discomfort and, more than anything, confusion for “subjects.” I would have been interested to hear more of her thoughts on her role as very much an insider (but perhaps an outsider as well in terms of her non-heroin use). Garcia also briefly points out the dichotomy of \u201cobservation\u201d and \u201cwork\u201d in her ethnographic research. In being asked to work at the Nuevo D\u00eda clinic and showing some hesitation,\u00a0the executive director of the clinic, Andr\u00e9s, asked \u201cwhether I wanted to \u201cobserve\u201d or whether I wanted to \u201cwork.\u201d I understood this distinction between \u201cobservation\u201d and \u201cwork\u201d as a call for me to make myself useful, to take on the condition of what I wanted to study\u2014to get my hands dirty\u201d (29). I think this is another interesting point of discussion. Ethnography encourages participatory observation; however, I do find it incredibly difficult to complete both tasks at once. In participating as a worker in the clinic, did the distractions of working long hours and daily work tasks get in the way of her observations? Was she always able to take detailed field notes after her 13 hour graveyard shifts? I think Garcia\u2019s ethnographic work spotlights many interesting challenges as well as assets of ethnography that are clear in just these two chapters alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Right away, I was captured by Garcia\u2019s ethnographic writing; even with limited descriptions, she manages to create vivid imagery that revealed her connection to the work and even made me feel connected to her work myself. In the introduction, she … Continue reading