Behar, R. (1996) 'Chpt 1 and 4' from The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology that Breaks your Heart

In the initial chapter of this book Ruth Behar discusses the involvement of anthropologists with their subjects and immersion within the communities they study.  Behar discussed if you include personal details about yourself, whether it changes the integrity of the work. She uses herself as a prime example and her battle with depression and the need for medication. She questions whether the inclusion of her personal story will affect how her research is viewed. She also examines whether her outlook is one of slight bias. However, by opening up and including such details, Behar shows her vulnerability by directly writing about her fears within the anthropology study. She also talks about the preconceived notions you may have about studying your own culture. Still, she suitably brings to light the argument that autobiographical work can reclaim and challenge the other narratives set by historical anthropologies.

As much as anthropology is about observing the subject, as Behar argues the mere insertion of yourself into an environment causes that environment to behave slightly differently. I believe that because we live in a multicultural society, that anthropology can now be undertaken in an environment by those who have a connection to it, which opens up a different perspective. People of mixed heritage can have a understanding into their own cultures and offer a more complex insight than those of who are not from it (even if it is only a partial understanding) and this subsequently allows a more natural environment, allowing research to be more understanding and have more context. Although many scholars and academia argue against the inclusion of “I” within anthropology, I feel it good to know who, what and why someone was observing, especially if the environment is not one of their own.