Doing fieldwork with vulnerable persons: thoughts on the notions of attachment and detachment

Abstract

This article discusses the issues of doing fieldwork with vulnerable people. It considers that vulnerability is not a state, but a dynamic process produced during the survey relationship. Borrowing from the actor-network theory (ANT) the notions of attachment and detachment, it discusses the multiple relationships linking the inquiry, the researcher, and the informant. A close analysis of five survey narratives groups them into three categories. Social attachments engage interpersonal relationships (appropriation, connection, secession, reciprocity, and enslavement). Affective attachments engage the body (affection, shock, and retreat). Political commitments engage modes of expression (translation and spokesperson). This essay, therefore, takes a refreshed look at the identities and relationships, mediations and contributions of the protagonists taking part in the inquiry