Canadian Consortium on Human Security

The fieldwork I carried out under the Human Security Fellowship took place in Indonesia in January-February 2008, with upcoming research in the Southern Philippines and Southern Thailand. It consisted of a week in Jakarta to meet with academics and government officials, then a month in Aceh for interviews (Banda, Saree village, and Bireuen). My work at these locations consisted mainly of interviewing local leaders (chiefs, religious, rebels) about village peace processes.

1) The central dilemma in my fieldwork involved translation and gender relations. I decided to hire a translator in Aceh, especially for villages where the national language is not spoken. I usually work with students, who benefit from the experience (and pay) more than professional translators, can be cheaper, and often do a better job with political terms and concepts. For this trip, I hired Risna, a student activist I met through NGO networks. I understood at the beginning that a foreign man working with a woman could be an issue, so decided that she would only work with me in Banda and in the village of Saree, where my NGOs friends have a strong network, it is Liberal by village standards, and we can stay with a large group of people. For Bireuen, I found a different translator.

A male researcher with a female translator ended up being more contentious than I had anticipated. Saree School was not in session, so the only person there was the groundskeeper. This meant that there was plenty of room for us in their dorms, but there was not the critical mass of people we were hoping for. Risna was asked to sleep by herself in a separate dorm located 50m away, as men and women should never sleep near each other. Risna protested that she is more scared of sleeping alone near the jungle than she is sleeping in the same room as two men. She felt that her right to feel secure was greater than Acehnese cultural norms, but backed down eventually.

Where she slept did not matter much. Seeing a local woman and a foreigner working together was enough to cause a stir. Three young villagers arrived one night, accusing Risna of impropriety. The matter was quickly resolved and nothing came of it, save Risna feeling alienated. I could not argue with them, as much as I wanted to, for fear of Saree School’s reputation. Two issues stand out. First, the youths assumed that a Muslim woman working with a foreign man meant moral impropriety, no matter which precautions we took. Each of us is happily married, and we were careful not to be alone together at any time, but village gossip is difficult to avoid via rational planning. Second, I was not the subject of criticism. Only Risna was targeted for being promiscuous; nobody was angry with me, nor did they even address me. It is the woman who bears the brunt of cultural rules in this example, which is an important thing to keep in mind for a field researcher.

The confrontation was the work of only a few young men. Even the conservative local Islamic teacher thought it was silly and apologized. But this is the reality of working in developing countries. I do not know what the solution is. It would be wrong to discriminate against women when hiring translators, especially when they are local and understand the norms involved. But it is easier to hire translators / guides / drivers of the same sex as the researcher, even though female translators are usually easier to find, and guides / drivers are almost always men. I suppose I learned that a bias towards the same sex is useful, especially when working in villages, but I also refuse to not hire a woman who is capable and knows the cultural context. I do not recommend confronting sexism too much in the field, but also not bending to it.

2) The second issue was health. After arriving in Saree, I had a headache, the beginning of a really horrible problem with one of my wisdom teeth. The pain was severe, compounded by a sunburn and remote village accommodation and diet. I found some generic pain killer, but if the pain did not subside, I would have to change my plans and return home early—no small task when one is far from the city, which is four flights from home. The pain subsided enough for me to finish my work, with extractions booked for when I came home. I was fortunate that the severe pain went away. The lesson: ensure you have someone at home who has copies of your travel information, is capable of changing plans in case of emergency, and who has relevant permissions and data. Changing travel plans is difficult from the field, and even in the best situations, is a complex process (i.e. maybe two flights are changed, but a third is sold out, undermining the previous two). If someone in Canada can make the phone calls and set up appointments, it makes a big difference.

3) The third field note relates to trauma. Bireuen was the centre of the recent separatist conflict. My new (male) translator and I ventured out to some villages for interviews, and they were indeed productive. Local leaders were pleased to have long discussions about village peace, feeling their years of work have been underappreciated. But on one occasion, the interview got out of control, and I felt the village leader was adversely affected by the experience. It was going well until I asked him why he thinks that academics and combatants tend to underappreciate the roles of village leaders during the conflict. With this question, things changed. He twitched, and became visibly upset. From this point, he started ranting about how the rebels have forgotten about their village allies; how his own mother shielded and fed GAM members for six months, and now all they do is race by in fancy cars. It was difficult for us to calm him down, and there is no way we could leave.

Again, I do not know what the solution is. We cautioned him that we would like to discuss sensitive topics, he seemed very happy to talk to us, other interviewees did not respond this way, and the question that set him off did not stand out as inconsiderate. When we finally left, he told me how nice it was for him to release these strong feelings. Perhaps we provided a release, or perhaps we renewed his trauma and bitterness. I suppose the only lesson is to be careful, and if a question triggers emotion, to stop everything and really listen, so that at least the experience can provide the benefit of catharsis.

4) A final challenge was money, although it is nowhere near as contentious as the previous points. Basically, when one does field research, especially with a translator, be prepared to spend. Comfortable transportation (this may involve hiring a car and driver), separate hotel rooms (perhaps separate hotels) for researcher, driver, and translator, and everyday pocket money for ‘your staff’ is to be expected. When I bought phone cards, the translator often used them to call her friends, and then ask for more. If an interview takes place in a local coffee stall, be prepared to pay for everyone, even the participant’s entourage. This is a regional norm, and I was prepared for it, but it bears mention. It is not advisable to cut corners during field research. Getting good information is an expensive process. This is one of the many ways in which the Human Security Fellowship was indispensable for my field research.

Field research demands access to cash. In most developing countries, ATMs are unreliable. Surcharges are considerable, many do not accept Canadian cards, and branches may be rare. The alternatives are not much better: traveller’s cheques are rarely accepted, and bringing American dollars means carrying a large amount of cash. By the way, American currency often gets a better exchange rate if the bills are clean, new, and large denominations. I always carry hundreds of American dollars and supplement this with ATMs.

Finally, I offer a few other points I have learned throughout this and previous fieldwork. First, I usually carry plenty of small gifts (Canadian ashtrays and coins are popular). Another suggestion involves timing: I usually conduct interviews on weekdays, return to the city in weekends to transcribe in a comfortable coffee shop, and then return to a village. A break between sets of interviews helps refresh the researcher and allows one to come up with new questions. I also recommend using one or two translators, as sometimes different people translate things differently, and a single translator may become too familiar with the questions and begin to take over the interview, providing information you are not ready to divulge.

Overall, I felt my research was immensely productive and enjoyable. I was able to conduct forty interviews in five weeks (I was lucky because it is easier to arrange interviews with local leaders than national ones), as well as pick up rare books, expand my network, improve my languages, and pick up more feeling for what it was like during the conflict. I hope these points prove useful for future research on human security.