TY - JOUR AU - Kość-Ryżko, Katarzyna PY - 2013/01/01 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - The Refugee Centre as a field of research JF - Ethnologia Polona JA - EP VL - IS - SE - Articles DO - UR - https://journals.iaepan.pl/ethp/article/view/607 SP - 229-241 AB - <p>Even though refugee centres are often located in geographic proximity to us, they are, in many respects, a&nbsp;demanding and inaccessible field for ethnographic research. Such field is difficult not only methodologically, or due to social and cultural relations it produces, but also because of the ethical and psychological challenges that the ethnographer is faced with if s/he intends to understand certain aspects of the life of the residents of such a centre. The dilemmas involved in this situation resemble the ones experienced by those working in the most socially sensitive professions.</p><p>In this article I present selected difficulties I have encountered in the last years carrying out fieldwork in some of the refugee centres in Poland. Those difficulties had their sources in cultural differences and in social conditions. In the paper I describe briefly the conditions of living in these centres and the peculiar relations between the residents, which impact the effectiveness of the works carried out there. Moreover, I discuss the relationship between the cultural relativism and the ethical principles the researcher abides by. Each of these issues is illustrated with actual fieldwork situations</p> ER -