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Doing Fieldwork on Indonesian Chinese Migrant Workers in Brunei Darussalam
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Abstract:
This paper makes the case for a more spontaneous approach to collecting data from the field in
qualitative studies of labour migration rather than an overly planned one. It shows the benefit of
this supplemental method in fine-grained investigations by illustrating how my own fieldwork in
a circle of the Indonesian Chinese migrant workers transitioned from intentionally planned to a
more impromptu engagement. A defining feature of ‘hanging around’ as method is the
fieldworker’s conscious effort to not view the migrant workers as simply informants and go
beyond that. It involves the researcher humanizing the interviewees as people who have
motivations and concerns as migrant labour other than purely pecuniary and in further establishing
a connection with them before proceeding to interview.
Description:
Date:
2025
Authors:
Westly Lo Siong Wei
Publisher:
Institute of Asian Studies, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
