Ethnographic Immersions and Local Collaborations in the Study of Globalization and Environmental Change

In this chapter, I examine the role of feminist research methodologies I used across four research sites over three decades to develop collaborative research on the gendered effects of globalization and environmental change and their intersections. I focus on differences and similarities in the development of research collaborations in these four sites and on how feminist research methodologies formed and solidified these collaborative projects. I argue that these collaborations had a cumulative effect: each built on experiences gained during earlier field experiences, but were also adaptive to the specific conditions encountered in the fieldwork settings. In these ethnographic research endeavors, globalization affected the collaborations between the researcher and the interviewees: the more the social group being studied had been touched by globalization, the more common ground was found. Ethnographic research shed light on the interlinkages between environmental change and globalization, especially where research was conducted over a longer period to illuminate processes of change. Ethnographers utilizing feminist research methodologies can bridge differences between interviewer and interviewee, but these methodologies must be adapted to each new context and to each new relationship between the ethnographer and interviewee. This type of research allows for deeper collaborations between the ethnographer and myriad local experts with whom she/he works.