Smith Finley J.
Heimer, M., Thogersen, S. (eds.) 'Doing Fieldwork in China', Copenhagen:
NIAS Press, 2006 [Book review].
The China Journal 2008, 59, 172-174.
Copyright:
The China Journal © 2008 The University of Chicago Press
Link to article:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/20066401
Date deposited:
08/12/2016
Newcastle University ePrints - eprint.ncl.ac.uk
THE CHINA JOURNAL, NO. 59
172
in relation to education. Their aspirations to become
enjoyed greater privileges
"white-collar beauties", however, could generate new gendered practices in the
and hence new forms of gender segregation in the labor market. The
workplace
study concludes by noting thatwomen workers have borne the brunt of China's
economic
reveal a lifetime of gender
restructuring and that their histories
inequality.
While
other
have
documented
how
studies
China's
many
already
on
an
course
left
the
life
of this
unusually deep imprint
revolutionary socialism
particular generation, and accounts of how women workers fare in economic
restructuring are not new, this study represents a systematic effort to bring these
two strands together by adding a gender dimension to the understanding of the life
course dynamics
of these women workers. Originating
from Liu's
doctoral
the study is rich
and
their perceptions
experiences
could have been better grounded
dissertation,
in ethnographic descriptions
of the women's
of their past and present. As a book, however, it
theoretically, and engaged more widely with the
this book
should be of interest to anyone
existing literature. Nevertheless,
women
workers in contemporary China, and how
concerned with the situation of
their present could be related to their past.
Eva P. W. Hung
University ofMacau
Fieldwork
Doing
Copenhagen:
NIAS
in China,
edited by Maria
Heimer
and Stig
+
xii
322
?14.99
2006.
Press,
pp.
(paperback).
Thogersen.
in the People's
is only the second to focus on field experiences
a
to
The
Thurston
and
Pasternak's
and
of
China
timely update
provides
Republic
in China: Views from theField
Social Sciences and Fieldwork
Published
(1983).
This
volume
detailed
within
information on conducting China fieldwork is sporadic, often hidden
articles and monographs
reporting empirical research results. Meanwhile,
has lacked pieces dedicated to the
literature on research methodology
in the PRC, where traditional
researchers
faced
working
by
specific challenges
a
are
set
of
difficulties
intensified by
particular
political and social constraints.
This volume fills a gap by addressing a range of issues well rehearsed in the
the general
literature (for example, political
sensitivity; language
general methodological
field
barriers;
positionality; "insider" perspectives), but doing so directly through
from different disciplines
the Chinese
lens. We thus learn how fifteen academics
rules and reality" (p. 3) in seeking
between methodological
"compromises
to enhance our understanding of China.
accounts?and
the lack of
One
key reason for the lack of published
made
the specific China literature and the general methodological
been fear that the eclectic and intuitive methods
necessarily
interaction between
literature?has
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REVIEWS
173
in less
in China may meet with disapproval by researchers working
employed
is generation upon
restrictive, more amenable research settings. The consequence
to
researchers
the wheel
of
uninformed
and
isolated
re-invent
generation
having
confronted with China's
frustrating series of obstacles. This is not to say
that the general methodological
literature is of limited help to China fieldworkers
I
the
volume's
differ from
editors who would claim it is), since happy
(and here
when
individuals may come across works
that, despite being located in a different
context, nonetheless find resonance within one's own experience. For me, during
my initial field trip to Xinjiang, Northwest China, that work was Ethnography:
inPractice
Principles
(Hammersley and Atkinson, 1983).
Since the early 1990s, fieldwork opportunities in China have become more
diverse, and the degree and quality of field access varies widely according to the
region (compare Shenzhen and Tibet in this volume), set of people, or topic being
as Dorothy
J. Solinger points out, a policy or
investigated. Furthermore,
to
at
too
time
sensitive
the
may fruitfully be explored after the
study
phenomenon
event (p. 154). Within
this diversity, the editors highlight three general themes
that persist: the over-riding presence of the Party-state; access limitations; and the
few institutions, it seems, are
scholars
receiving foreign
(perceived to bring more troubles
than benefits), most researchers nonetheless conduct fieldwork through an official
affiliation of some kind, often secured for the sole purpose of fixing a research
role of collaboration
enthusiastic
with Chinese
contacts. While
about
shows, they also rely heavily on contacts.
visa; as this volume overwhelmingly
Guanxi (connections) remain a core prerequisite for research success in China.
In many chapters, a tendency to combine officially approved and unofficial
emerges. Mette Halskov Hansen, working on the experiences of Han
Tibetan Autonomous
Prefecture
immigrants to Gannan
(Gansu),
begins by
fieldwork
suggesting
that an official
research permission opens doors for a non-Chinese
among other things, the collection of locally produced
researcher, enabling,
documents. Yet, as shown here, the officially endorsed interview can result in the
desperate image of a lay respondent meekly offering the "correct" responses to a
high-status Chinese counterpart; while a scholar's residence in the building of the
local Committee
for Family Planning may generate large-scale mistrust among
Hansen
later concludes, fieldwork in China remains partly a
matter of "flying by the seat of one's pants"
(p. 94): one needs flexibility
regarding official and unofficial methods, and ideally should stay in one location
locals. As Halskov
long-term, or at least return there frequently.
rare insight into the field climate in
Emily T. Yeh provides a welcome
sensitive
Tibet.
politically
Upon arrival, Yeh was
immediately informed by her
that statistics, policy documents and interviews with state officials were
official doors were firmly closed.
"completely out of the question" (p. 101)?thus
to
the
of
Hoping
study
political ecology
greenhouse vegetable farming in one
sponsor
instead learned how political constraints may lead to new insights.
village, Yeh
Herself coming under the influence of the "politics of fear" necessary tomaintain
state legitimacy
in Tibet, Yeh
operated under a similar system of "self
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174
THE CHINA JOURNAL,NO. 59
to her respondents, and was therefore better able to interpret their
Furthermore, she was incorporated into "local repertoires of resistance"
surveillance"
behavior.
access
her in negotiating
assisted
gleeful
respondents
(p. 101), whereby
research was "what
constraints. The overriding ethos eventually informing Yeh's
people don't know can't hurt them", suggesting a different kind of ethics: one that
protects respondents by allowing them to talk "without burdening them with the
(p. 108).
responsibility of [potentially dangerous] knowledge"
issues attending interviews,
language
Stig Thogersen's
chapter addresses
exploring not so much the obvious
tongues but rather that of sociolect.
challenges of regional dialects and minority
This he splits broadly into "Ganbunese"
(the
varieties
and
diverse
of
used
of
the
state),
(the
"Baixingese"
by
language
language
that "what is said is inseparable from how it is said"
commoners). Arguing
researchers to pay attention to the social categories,
(p. 114), he encourages
and cultural resources drawn on to describe problems and grievances.
on how nuances
in interview may help us to interpret
Focusing
gained
metaphors
in printed sources, Solinger
describes
subterfuge and euphemism
methods of gaining access and connecting with subjects. Many of her tips
known among China hands but will prove invaluable to new recruits,
describing one's research in harmless, benign terms when negotiating
(she
frames
it
in
terms
of
about
specific
are well
such as
official
China's
"learning
positive
p. 158); drawing upon "any relationship one might have with any
person willing to be of help" (p. 157) when seeking potential subjects and the
in a
related need to retain old contacts; writing down information contained
nervous respondent's notebook
rather than having him repeat the information
permission
experiences",
verbally.
Exploring field positionality and reflexivity, Bu Wei shows how even a native
in China. Her first
researcher can face the insider/outsider dichotomy
Chinese
in
startling discovery is that, contrary to her presumption that trafficked women
Sichuan need rescuing, one respondent considered herself actually better off in
in
her new situation, and did not want to return to her old life. The mismatch
social background gains prominence as the chapter progresses: while the (urban)
could receive anti
researchers
imagined that potentially vulnerable women
via television, the comparatively uneducated
(rural) women
trafficking messages
and news programmers, while most had only
could ill relate to documentary
access
to
media.
Of
TV
greater practical use to them was
sharing
irregular
experience and information between
trafficker "types".
peers,
for example
physical
descriptions
of
resource of the scattered
24-page bibliographic
on
China
research
published since 1990. In sum, this
methodological
volume makes an important contribution to our patchy knowledge
regarding the
eclecticisms of fieldwork in China.
Also
included
is an invaluable
discussions
Joanne Smith Finley
University, UK
Newcastle
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