“Home sweet home?” Struggles of intracultural “betweenness” of doctoral fieldwork in my home country of Jamaica

Abstract

The culture of silence surrounding the nuanced challenges of fieldwork is being broken but there is still a long way to go. In the last two decades or so, an interesting discourse has developed on experiences of "betweenness" in the field. However, a glaring issue is the underrepresentation of the experiences of Global South researchers and doctoral students returning to their homelands to conduct fieldwork. Much has been written about cross-cultural fieldwork and its associated challenges, yet the "betweenness" experienced during intracultural research on the impacts of large-scale tourism is scantly studied. This paper begins with an overview of producing knowledge through qualitative means, followed by an account of the insider/outsider debate that informs this paper. It sheds light on the intracultural dimensions of "betweenness," which are framed within my experience of being an outsider and an insider during my return to my home country, Jamaica, for doctoral fieldwork. The nuanced challenges and negotiations that came with my "betweenness," concerning phenomena such as "gazing back," are at the centre of my discussion. My conclusion is that "betweenness" is not limited to those conducting cross-cultural studies but also affects those conducting intracultural studies. Therefore, researchers returning home for fieldwork should be on their guard for the implications of "betweenness" for the success of the research process.

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