SASKIA BINNENDIJK – ANTHMETHGRP2-2425-SASKIA-BINNENDIJK

WK9 An ethics case study

[Last modified: December, 4 2024 10:59 AM]

Case Study: Collection and use of data by HIV specialist midwives

A part-time Master’s student works in a job analyzing medical and social data collected by specialist HIV midwives in the UK and is responsible for organizing and analyzing these data. These midwives support HIV positive women and their babies from diagnosis to 6 weeks after birth. She proposed to interview a number of specialist midwives with whom she works professionally about their data collection activities and their attitudes to data and data-collection as well as other players in the administrative hierarchy who deal with data collection and recording as part of their job. The aim of the project was to understand how the midwives engagement with data collection, relates to their understanding of their roles, responsibilities and identities within institutional bureaucratic frameworks. After finishing her dissertation, she intends to return to work with the people she has interviewed.

Anthropology as a field has been described by my professor, Danny Miller, as the academic discipline which requires a great amount of empathy. Approaching a subject with an open mind, being willing to gain deep understanding through immersion and the ability to then step back and generate thinking which transcends the particular certainly requires empathy but it also requires courage.

In the case above, we see various ethical issues, the main one stemming from the researcher working for the organisation she is looking to research as an anthropologist.

Before critiquing this point, I first want to pause and empathise: Finding your field site, building connections and gaining trust from interlocutors can be daunting. Starting from scratch, doing fieldwork possibly for the first time and under the time pressure of a MA degree are all elements which can make someone feel vulnerable. Imposter syndrome might not be uncommon. The temptation to use a field site where you have prior knowledge and prior connections may therefore be very present. However, in the case described above, this leads to some serious ethical issues.

Firstly, the positionality of the researcher as a colleague blurs the line when commencing research: are her interlocutors having a conversation with her as a colleague or as a researcher? Would this create an environment in which the colleagues might break their own set of professional ethics and divulge information which they shouldn’t?

Secondly, being an employee as well as a researcher means that there is access to (patient) information which would not be accessible from a research perspective only. As awareness and consent would be lacking from the persons from whom the information stems, this should not be incorporated into the fieldwork.

Finally, when returning to her field site as a place of work, the research done will have an effect on power dynamics between herself, her peers and the management. This will put both the researcher as well as her colleagues in an uncomfortable position which could be harmful to all.

In this case, the best course of action would be to separate work and field site. An alternative may be to use connections to gain access to another institution doing similar data collection work or sacrifice employment and find different work several months before commencing field work.

Multimodality: The careful crafting of Christmas shopping

[Last modified: November, 27 2024 10:26 AM]

During this week’s lectures on multimodality a distinction came to the fore for me: Multimodality on the one hand can be a technique to illicit meaningful conversations. It can be a way to delve deeper into experiences and memories by seeking out situations and experiences that allow someone to connect with parts of themselves which may not always lie at the surface.

On the other hand, multimodality can be not only method but also output: a way of storytelling that allows the interlocutors far more agency and reduces the filter that is the anthropologist (as has been so beautifully done by the Almaarii project – Closets – Almaarii)

Seeing how evocative the Almaarii images are, there is no doubt for me that the multimodality of that project intensives the human connection you feel. It brings you closer to gaining a fleeting understanding of someone’s experience.

For my own research on online shopping, multimodality will play a part, at the very least as method. As I walked through Heal’s Christmas section as part of this week’s exercise, it was easy to see how visiting a shop with an interlocutor could facilitate conversations about their Christmas traditions, their tastes, gifting and their close personal relationships. It would be an echo what the shop itself tries to do: Gently priming while allowing agency.

In a store like Heal’s, the reality is that the environment has been carefully crafted to prompt customers to purchase goods: As you walk in you transition into a new world. The frosty air makes way for warmth as you pass from the entrance hall into the store. Warm lighting creates a path to follow. Partitions block out the natural light and the outside world, enveloping you in this experience of Christmas. Candles burning fill the air with scents of pine, cloves and clementine, cinnamon and red berries. The herringbone floor is engineered to look like wood but made of a material that absorbs the sound of my footsteps so that I and my fellow shoppers hear the instrumental Christmas music mixed with the gentle murmurs of those shopping together. I am transported and everything has been done to allow my senses to fully engage in the shopping experience, tapping into memories as well as aspirations.

How then to use multimodality to translate the memories and aspirations of my interlocutors into a form that allows greater connection and understanding for the person consuming the ethnography?

A gift list, a mood board, a recipe, an image of a shopping basket… echoes of material goods imbibed with meaning. Echoes much fainter than their original utterance, but hopefully still audible.

Body ethnography – Morning Scrolling

[Last modified: November, 20 2024 09:20 AM]

It is just before six in the morning and I am lying in my double bed with a slightly sloping king size mattress. My body has decided to wake up but I am still drowsy with sleep. Next to me is the warm cuddly body of my six-year-old who decided that this bed was much nicer than his bunkbed downstairs. It is comforting to feel his warmth and listen to his breathing.

Unable to go back to sleep and unwilling to get up, I do what so many of us do within minutes or even seconds of waking up – I reach for my phone.

My brain still feels foggy as I hold my phone to my face, letting my iPhone use its facial recognition to open my home screen. No messages have come in on WhatsApp since going to sleep just past midnight. Not feeling awake enough to engage with news articles or e-mails I tap my finger on the Instagram app and start scrolling, keeping the volume very low.

Faces of friends, family members and people from my local community come by mixed in with faces of people I have never met in person but are nonetheless familiar to me as I have followed their account for a while.

Recognizing people I like elicits a smile and my scrolling slows. When seeing accounts I associate with more critical or negative content I scroll by faster, not wanting to engage right now. I roll my eyes at paid for content plugging “Early Black Friday Access” quickly moving on and instead pause on the NationalTrustSouthWest account showing me snowy scenes of a peaceful landscape. I watch a video of someone making bread and scoring the dough before baking to create a beautiful pattern. I feel my body staying in this relaxed state, curiosity peeked but calm. I am lying on my left side, turned away from my son to block the light of my phone from disturbing his sleep. My legs curled up, my movements minimal, just little flicks performed with my right index finger while my left hand holds the phone.

For about twenty minutes I suspend the “proper” start of my day until I feel movement beside me, a little body stretching out and hearing the words “Mummy, I’m hungry…”. I put my phone away under my pillow, turn around and luckily first get a cuddle. A few more moments of calm and warmth before I am reminded that someone’s tummy is rumbling. A quick stretch transitions my body from a feeling of languid rest to active tension as I get up and start the breakfast shift.

WK5 Anthropology and Activism: Food policy and public health

[Last modified: November, 12 2024 10:53 AM]

In my previous I drew attention to the plethora of beliefs linked to our food choices, be they religious, moral or health-focused beliefs. The popular saying “You are what you eat” implies that we use food as a tool to define our identity and our aspirations.

As such, food consumption can be highly political. This is evident is multiple ways but is perhaps most pronounced when considering the topic of food consumption and public health.

It is well published that the UK as well as almost all other “developed” countries are facing an obesity crisis. Governments have responded to this challenge in various ways. Over the past decade in the UK we have seen additional regulations put in place for advertising (fast) food, a limitation of proximity of certain food outlets to schools and since 2022 the gradual implementation of the HFSS (High Fat Sugar and Salt) system.

HFSS is a system of identifying “unhealthy” foods based on nutrient values. If products fall within the definitions set by the HFSS regulations, it will impact tax levels, store positioning and promotion and advertising limitations for those products.

The roll out of HFSS regulations has been postponed several times and is at present not fully completed. The regulations have proven unpopular with food manufacturers and food retailers alike who have actively lobbied against these regulations. Early results from October 2022 showed a reduction in sales for certain HFSS food groups. However, this has not coincided with a reduction of obesity levels in the UK.

Meanwhile, to make up for the sales deficit, new product development has focused on circumventing HFSS regulations. In practice, this means food manufacturers using alternatives to sugar, salt and fat and in the process, creating products which are even more highly processed than their predecessors.

This poses questions on the efficiency of HFSS on obesity as well as overall health, especially as we see a more pronounced critique of ultra-processed food and the threat to health as spearheaded by people such as Dr. Chris van Tulleken (2023).

The oversimplification of the causes of the obesity crisis has led to policies which are not necessarily effective and possibly pose further health risks. Simultaneously, the UK government proposing weight loss medication for the unemployed and overweight shows how the failure of food policies is leading to greater interventions.

Although a single anthropological study will not turn the tide, it is the wholistic context that ethnography provides that adds value in the discussion of obesity. No man, and no issue is an island.

An understanding that issues such as obesity are often interlinked with other challenges that life poses, can prevent an oversimplification of policies. In my view, the role of anthropology is to support moving the debate to respectful and wholistic approaches which positively impact people’s health and wider wellbeing.

Fifteen minutes of fieldwork at a London bus stop

[Last modified: October, 30 2024 09:41 AM]

On a late Friday morning at bus stop E on Russel Square life seems to be rushing past. Perhaps in the square itself people are slowing down and being in the moment but here, on the other side of the fence, I find myself on a busy London Street.

I am sitting on the metal bench in the small bus shelter, surrounded by opposites. On my left, a big Greggs poster is telling me to take a proper lunch break with their £4.95 meal deal while on my right a poster spurs me to take action and protest against the ongoing atrocities committed in Gaza.

Camden council has a poster up warning me not to litter or fly tip (or else risk a fine of £1,000) but clearly people before me did not head this as below the bench are broken bottles and remnants of lunch packets.

For the bus drivers, bus stop E also combines two opposites: It is both the start point as well as the end point of bus 14. It runs from Russel Square, through Piccadilly to Putney Heath in SW London.

Just before the bus stop itself is a waiting spot for buses that have finished their journey. Here, bus drivers have a moment of transition. No longer needing to watch the traffic or engage with passengers, there are roughly six minutes in which they make some notes on what seems to be a log, leaving a material record of their journey. They get up from the drivers’ seat and stretch their legs by walking up and down both the lower deck and the upper deck of their bus. I observe three bus drivers, all male, performing this ritual. One of them takes a moment and sits at the back of the bus for a little while. They do not have long, as within six minutes or so, the next number 14 bus arrives, bumping them from the parking place to the actual bus stop to start another journey.

At the bus stop I am joined by two young women discussing their law course. Both speak with British accents; one has a South Asian appearance with thick black hair to her waist and the other young woman is black and sporting long thin braids done up in a ponytail. I feel uncomfortable noting only these superficial markers of their looks. The women say goodbye with the South Asian looking girl initiating a hug. The woman with braids makes a noise indicating the hug was unexpected. She continues to wait by herself for another minute while checking her phone as the bus is “bumped” up. As she gets on, no words are exchanged between herself and the bus driver. She sits down at the very back of the bus. Although the interaction is almost non-existent, for the bus driver his vehicle has transitioned from a semi-private to a public space again.

WK 3 Positionality: Being the right fit?

[Last modified: October, 23 2024 11:01 AM]

At first glance, researching the cultural impact of online grocery shopping in the UK may seem like a very non-controversial topic. After all, there is no illegality involved nor is it an exploration of a marginalised group of people. Instead, the subject is thoroughly mundane and non-edgy.

I will likely focus on an area in London and as such I expect informants to come from a variety of cultural backgrounds, ages and genders. My only narrowing down will be to focus on households where people shop for more than one person.

To reflect on my positionality as a caucasian cis woman in her mid-thirties is perhaps not the thing to focus on: I am more interested in exploring the elements that will help with further rapport building. I have lived in the UK for fifteen years and am often mistaken for British or Irish although in reality, I am a Dutch blow-in. I was a Londoner for ten years, I am a (single) mum of a six-year old boy and someone who is a real foodie. These are all elements of me that I can present and use to connect.

However, although I have described my research subject as mundane and non-edgy, the intrinsic link between grocery shopping and food makes my topic highly political.

A brief scroll on social media platforms as well as networks such as reddit and mumsnet will show that topics such as veganism, processed food, and diets to name a few elicit a plethora of opinions and often strong emotional reactions as well. Food is a topic which can make people feel judged. As such, my own eating habits (both the actual as well as the perceived ones) will come into play.

Luckily, I am a flexitarian without allergies and without religious restrictions on what I choose to eat. As a single mum, I can relate to tough choices that need to be made on how to feed your family. In my career I have worked for an organic food producer as well as for the biggest (processed) food company in the world.

However, there is also an element that is “skin-deep” which will impact how I am perceived and that will impact how I make people feel regarding their own food habits. Interestingly, although not enshrined in law, this is also something that people can be discriminated against. I am talking about body size.

At 5”5/165 cm and wearing a size 18, my physique does not read like I belong to a clean eating tribe, work out daily with Joe Wicks or exclusively eat organic and/or vegan food. Instead, I look like the person you can go to a coffeeshop with and who would be up for chat and a slice of cake.

So much about reflecting on your positionality is about guarding against any sense of superiority, whether that is about how that may impact the people you work with or how it colours the ethnography you write. Therefore, my focus has been on elements of me that might make someone feel judged with regards to their food choices. Many I can adapt, but my body size is one I cannot easily change. In this case, I hope that my bigger body will open doors rather than being a poor fit.

WK2 An ethnographic vignette of a London supermarket

[Last modified: October, 13 2024 08:28 PM]

On a late Friday morning in a busy central London street bookmarked by Tottenham Court Road on one end and Euston Square station on the other, I am visiting a budget supermarket. The supermarket is of German origin a common sight across the UK.

The topic that I wish to explore is the cultural impact of online grocery shopping but today my field site is a physical store. It will be impossible to understand how changing the way you shop can bring about cultural changes without first understanding the many facets of the phenomenological experience of physically going to a supermarket.

The store I visit is busy: As I enter via a one-way system a security guard is standing next to three rows of unused metal shopping carts. He does not say hello. Instead, a welcome is provided by the smell of fresh baked goods: dough, tomato sauce, and baked cheese.

A group of people crowds around the stand, except for one none of them using a blue basket like I am. The people in the store are mostly shopping alone and most seem to be between 18-35 years old. As could be expected in central London, people seem to come from a wide variety of cultural and racial backgrounds. A couple toddlers are in the store but there is also a small group of ladies who seem to be significantly older. Besides a blue basket or even a metal shopping cart they pull along their own shopping trolley, often with a tartan or flowery pattern. Interspersed with shoppers are people who work in the store, sporting the blue and yellow colours of the store’s branding.

As I go through the store and take in the many sights, sounds and smells of the products and the people around me, I add a few things to my blue basket so that I blend in. I note how the fruit and veg aisles are significantly less crowded than the fresh bakery area and the famous middle aisles are empty.

I meander through the store, noting how I myself seem guided by my own experiences of shopping. Eventually I stand in the long queue waiting for a self-check-out station to become available. The sound of beeps, rolling wheels, the crinkling of bags, the occasional chat of rare couples or small groups and the voice of the self-check-out reminding shoppers to scan their loyalty card all intermingle. When it is my turn a blonde lady of about 40 who is wearing a bright yellow bodywarmer loudly says to me “Next, here!”. It is the first time I am spoken to while in the store.

After I pay for my shopping, I stand next to a nearly empty food donations box just before the store exit. I look at my phone and at the people who are now on their way again. Younger people are walking out at a fast pace with just a few items that may be their lunch, giving this sense of a very transient place. As I too get ready to go, one of the older ladies slowly walks out, using a walking stick and pulling an overflowing flowery shopping trolley with her free hand. I wonder why she has chosen to buy her groceries here.

WK1 Research proposal: The cultural impact of online grocery shopping

[Last modified: October, 8 2024 02:35 PM]

Online grocery shopping has been hailed as a technological advancement allowing consumers convenience while simultaneously providing a wide range of choice of products. Although some mostly business orientated studies on the subject have been carried out, these have focused on the detrimental effect on the high street or changing purchasing habits for ‘impulse’ categories. However, the wider cultural impact of shifting to online grocery shopping is a topic much less explored.

The act of online grocery shopping is intrinsically linked to analogue practices such as cooking and eating, two topics which have been core part of anthropological studies such as in the work of Levi-Strauss.

In addition, the act of grocery shopping is connected to concepts around family structures and division of household labour as well as the phenomenology and sociality of being present in ones’ neighbourhood and physical stores.

Finally, I am interested in the modes of online shopping that a household uses and what this reveals. This would encompass their choice of retailer as well as the technology used and any interplay between digital devices and analogue tools such as handwritten shopping lists, meal plans and recipe books.

Research Question and potential findings

This research project aims to explore how a shift to buying the majority of groceries online impacts the topics described above.

I do not have clear preconceived ideas what the ethnography will reveal although I imagine that in some ways the act of online shopping could bring about multiple changes which might seem contradictory. For instance, the timesaving capability of online shopping might be juxtaposed with the more solitary nature of buying groceries online. This could result in a specific individual within a household spending more time on this task than before when shopping in physical stores could have been more of a shared responsibility.

Field site and Methods

My field site would ideally be a London or suburban neighbourhood with a variety of shops (chain supermarkets of various sizes, independents and corner shops, (weekly) market) which participants could realistically reach on foot.

The key methods I am looking to employ are interviews and participant observation (joining on physical shopping trips, spending time with people while they cook and plan meals, observe how they shop online). To enrich the ethnography, I would also like to gather shopping receipts and other documents such as meal plans and recipes. Mapping the physical movement linked to grocery shopping pre and post switching to online grocery shopping is another method I would like to use to help visualise the changing habits and their potential wider impact.

A key question is whether to find participants willing to change their mode of shopping or whether to seek informants who have done this already out of their own accord. Finally, bringing in an element of immigration would be interesting in order to understand how the (in)accessibility of certain ingredients or products impacts choices.

Positionality and Ethics

In terms of positionality, as a Dutch woman who lived in London for a decade, I am technically an immigrant yet at the same time I am aware that I am often perceived as a middle class white British person. I am in my thirties and a mum and hope that my own experience of family life will support building a rapport with informants. Ethics wise, I have no obvious concerns.

Literature:

Bourdieu, Pierre (1984). Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste

Miller, Daniel. A theory of shopping

Mol, Annemarie. Eating in Theory

Nilsson, Elin. Who shops groceries where and how? The relationship between choice o of store format and type of grocery shopping,

Singh, Reema. “Hey Alexa – order groceries for me” – the effect of consumer – VAI emotional attachment on satisfaction and repurchase intention

Singh, Reema. Why do online grocery shoppers switch or stay? An exploratory analysis of consumers’ response to online grocery shopping experience.