Open AccessReflections on researching transnational migrants and the fieldwork challenges of studying co-nationals abroad
Author(s) -
Ângelo Martins,
Caroline Knowles
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
sociedade e cultura
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.102
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1980-8194
pISSN - 1415-8566
DOI - 10.5216/sec.v20i2.53056
Subject(s) - ethnography , beijing , emigration , sociology , process (computing) , politics , relation (database) , gender studies , media studies , political science , anthropology , law , computer science , database , china , operating system
This article offers reflections on the process of researchingtransnational migration, and particularly the fieldworkchallenges and difficulties that can emerge when studyingco-nationals abroad. Based on two distinct research projectson transnational migration (one on Brazilians in Londonand the other on Britons in Beijing), which used similarmethodological tools and faced similar challenges, we arguethatcombining a mobile ethnographic methodologicaltool (documenting journeys) with in-depth biographicalinterviews and historical and contextual analyses, makes ourdata open to analyse migration as a translocal process at thesame time that provides a connection between both macroand micro scales of analysis. Our methodological tools allowedus to understand how people speak of, engage with andnegotiate mobile experiences in their everyday lives, in themacro political and social structures organising immigrationand emigration.We conclude by reflecting on the challengesof researching co-nationals abroad,our own positionalityin relation to our fieldwork and the multi-layered powerrelations involved in our respective research process.