Rethinking Native Anthropology: Migration and Auto-Ethnography in the Post-Accession Europe

Abstract

Abstract. This paper embarks on the epistemological debate on native anthropology and examines the complexities inherent in the process of production of ethnographic knowledge in the post-accession Europe. The author first addresses the questions of reflexivity in anthropology. In relation to this, the paper discusses the interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives on researcher’s positionality in the field of the study and situatedness of knowledge claims. Subsequently, the author demonstrates how their own status as a native anthropologist was played out in their ethnographic fieldwork among Polish migrants in Belfast. To this end, the author examines their positionality in the field, pointing to intricacies of the insider/outsider status. Next, the paper focuses on the dialectics at work in carrying out an ethnographic study among the members of the same ethnic group, but away from home. It indicates potential disadvantages and advantages deriving from such a situation.