Thinking through payment in fieldwork: Changing the narrative about money and reciprocity

Eyre, Ben ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1944-4838, Salverda, Tijo, Nencel, Lorraine, Grassiani, Erella, de Regt, Marina, Woensdregt, Lise and Shan, Haiyue (2026) Thinking through payment in fieldwork: Changing the narrative about money and reciprocity. American Ethnologist, 53 (3). pp. 236-248. ISSN 0094-0496

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Abstract

Ethnographic research has long illuminated diverse economic relations. Yet ethnographers have said little about an economic relation that they themselves often rely on: payment in fieldwork. Indeed, the particularities of monetary exchange between ethnographers and their interlocutors often remain hidden—or taboo. This is so even though thinking through reciprocity is increasingly important in discussions of anthropological research ethics and the discipline's colonial legacies. Traditionally, fieldwork relies on long-term, intimate relationships that are often idealized, suggesting that money might taint ethnographic interactions. Yet, for anthropologists, it is our job to pay attention to taboos and unpack them. Here, we aim to advance critical discussion on payment in fieldwork and its implications. Given that ethnographic knowledge is always contextual, such discussion should be integral to equitable ethnographic research practices, creating theoretical space to engage with research participants’ expectations of payment.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	ethnography,fieldwork,knowledge production,methods,money,payment,reciprocity,relationships,research ethics,anthropology ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3314
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Global Development (formerly School of International Development)
Related URLs:	https://www.scopus.com/pages/publication...
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	17 Mar 2026 10:30
Last Modified:	14 Aug 2026 23:35
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/102358
DOI:	10.1111/amet.70102

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