Positioning in ‘relational claustrophobia’- ethical reflections on researching small international migrant communities in rural areas: Fid-Bau Portal

Positioning in ‘relational claustrophobia’- ethical reflections on researching small international migrant communities in rural areas

Stachowski, Jakub

Abstract

Abstract Beginning with the question: ‘what is involved in studying small international migrant groups in rural areas?‘, this article makes a methodological contribution to the literature on international migration to rural areas. The article takes as its starting point the ‘ethically important moments’ (Guillemin and Gillam, 2004) experienced by a researcher with a migration background during ethnographic fieldwork among Polish labour migrants in a rural municipality in Norway. Four interwoven aspects of the fieldwork will be discussed a) cooperation between the researcher and gatekeepers, b) the effects of the visibility of the local community, c) blurring the positionalities of the researcher; and d) the problematics of recurring encounters with the participants. The article introduces a concept of ‘relational claustrophobia’, which denotes a climate of dense, visible, overlapping and sometimes burdensome social relations in the local migrant community and illustrates its impact on the ethical conduct of the researcher. It concludes that studying small international migrant communities in rural areas may highlight the ethical concerns of a) confidentiality and the privacy of research subjects, b) the management of trust and c) the positionality of the migrant-researcher.

Highlights • Studying international migrants in rural communities may involve specific ethical challenges. • Social visibility appears as an important feature of rural migrant communities. • Trust management and confidentiality are among the challenges. • Rural social contexts may affect the positionality of the migrant-researcher. • The article postulates a need for further methodological reflections.