Fieldwork as Commitment: Experience in Papua New Guinea

Abstract

90JICA In the author s definition, fieldwork is a method of research in which a researcher collects firsthand data by locating him/herself where the researched live. Fieldwork means a process of interaction or negotiation between the researcher and the researched in which the fieldworker makes a commitment to his/her field. In my fieldwork in Papua New Guinea since 1980, I have continued to visit two specific places: migrant settlements in the capital of Port Moresby; and villages located along the highland fringe or the tributaries south of the Sepik River. Since the late 1990s, I have been concerned about how I should contribute to the field. In Port Moresby, while working as a Japan International Cooperation Agency expert for urban poverty alleviation in 2000-2001, I committed to developing a public arena to advocate for migrant settlements and the urban informal sector. In Kraimbit village, I presented the results of my long-term fieldwork in the area in Melanesian Pidgin and am seeking recognition of the villagers situational knowledge of place. Although this work involves continuous trial and error, viewing fieldwork as a process of commitment is a necessary step to transcend the conventional dualism in human geography between the researcher and the researched.