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On Seeing Monkeys, Cows, and Beggars

Through collaborative writing, the authors reflect on ethnographic engagement and critique “research tourism,” that is, drop-in, quick-fix “fieldwork” in developing countries. We position ourselves not as researchers vis-à-vis researched, but as two scholars set between researchers and researched, sometimes in the role of researcher but also stepping inside the binary to limn the gap. Through a dialogue across disciplines and a co-labor of writing, we inquire into the negotiation of research relationships in local contexts and how those relationships are conveyed in the academy. Using collaborative writing as our method of inquiry, we gather insights about our own roles and the unspoken relationships and expectations of researchers and researched in countries such as India. This allows us to introduce a multi-dimensional perspective on experiences that are usually represented from the single point of view of the researcher. This article begins in the middle of things because that is where we are.