Locating the Field: Space, Place and Context in Anthropology [ASA Monographs].

Oxford: Berg Publishers, 2006. 1st ed.. Paperback octavo, very good condition, figures, minor edgewear, bottom corners few pages little creased. 204 pp. A critical look at the latest developments and key issues in anthropological fieldwork. Are reports of the death of conventional fieldwork in anthropology exaggerated? From the social space of a cybercafe to cities in India, the UK and South Africa among others, this book features ethnographic studies that provide new ways of looking at the concepts of 'locality' and 'site'. The nature of 'locality' itself is problematic for both participants and fieldworkers: it must now be maintained and represented in relation to widening and fragmenting social frames and networks. Such developments have raised questions concerning the nature of ethnographic presence and scales of comparison. Rather than taking key fieldwork processes such as globalization and mobility for granted, anthropologists are well-placed to examine and critique the totalizing assumptions behind the notions of 'locality' and 'site'.