Bonnin Christine
Department of Geography, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Asia Pac Viewp. 2010;51(2):179-92. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8373.2010.01423.x.
In this article, I detail and evaluate the negotiations I had to broker to conduct ethnographic research on marketplace vendors and trade in the upland borderlands of northern Vietnam. Working with the analogy of the numerous 'lines' I was constrained by, had to manoeuvre around, and at times crossed over, I begin with a discussion of the 'official lines' or state regulations imposed upon my research and how I worked with, or negotiated these limitations. I then reveal the important 'border guards' or gatekeepers, such as local state actors and also field assistants, who enabled or constrained access to informants in numerous different ways. I also highlight the logistical and practical lines that I had to accept and indeed, often draw, to accomplish my study. I conclude with a consideration of how friendships in the field drew me beyond the lines I had originally drawn around my research. These relationships furthered my anxiety over the possibilities for conducting research that ultimately contributes towards social justice in a constrained political setting such as that which presently characterises Vietnam.
在本文中，我详细阐述并评估了为在越南北部高地边境地区对市场摊贩及贸易进行人种志研究而不得不促成的谈判。我以自己受到限制、需设法绕过且有时要跨越的众多“界限”为类比，首先讨论了施加于我研究的“官方界限”或国家规定，以及我如何应对或协商这些限制。接着，我揭示了重要的“边境守卫”或把关人，比如地方政府人员以及实地助手，他们以多种不同方式促成或限制了我接触受访者。我还强调了为完成我的研究而必须接受甚至常常要划定的后勤和实际界限。最后，我思考了在实地建立的友谊如何使我超越了最初为研究划定的界限。这些关系加剧了我对于在像当前越南这样政治环境受限的情况下开展最终有助于社会正义的研究之可能性的焦虑。
