Trading for Insight: A Playful Exercise in Positionality

Whether you’re an experienced researcher or have no clue yet what “ethnography” means, this exercise is a fun way to engage with one of the discipline's core considerations: self-reflexivity. Through a playful and hands-on task, participants will reflect on their own social, political, and cultural identity and how it influences access, power dynamics with participants, and interpretation of findings. This activity turns a mundane item into a tool for reflection. It’s fun, slightly silly, and surprisingly revealing.

You will receive a small common object and some simple guidelines, then head out and try to trade it with a stranger for anything but money. After at least three attempts - successful or not! - come back to share your story and what you ended up with (even if it’s still the same item). We will debrief and reflect together on your experience and how it relates to ethnographic considerations of positionality. You can share notes from your reflections and traded object(s) to spark conversation with other participants.

- Why do I feel more comfortable approaching some people and not others?

- What made someone more willing to trade with me?

- How do familiarity, bias, and assumptions play out in everyday encounters?

No prep needed. Just bring curiosity and a willingness to chat with strangers!

This activity is adapted from an exercise used in the “Off the Beaten Track” field school by Expeditions - Research in Applied Anthropology.

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