Ethical and methodological challenges for a lawyer facing fieldwork amidst the working poor

Abstract

In this paper I will reflect on six different challenges that I had to face as a Colombian lawyer who conducted eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork with poor workers in the localities of Ciudad Bolívar and Suba in Bogotá. Specifically, I will reflect on the topics of accessing a new field, being an outsider, dealing with personal characteristics that influence data collection (such as gender and age), working under psychologically and physically overwhelming circumstances, dealing with the risk of confirming negative stereotypes about vulnerable populations, and doing interdisciplinary work. In doing so, I will engage and build on the literature published by scholars from different disciplines who explore in different ways the difficulties they encountered while conducting fieldwork with vulnerable populations. Ultimately, my goal is also to encourage lawyers who work addressing social problems and pursue an academic career, to take the time and risk to conduct the rewarding adventure of fieldwork.