Skidmore, Civico, and Hernandez-Castillo: Distinguished Anthropology Scholars
Skidmore, Civico, and Hernandez-Castillo are distinguished anthropology scholars that have provides the mannequin of conducting engaged study and contradictory and challenges that they face in their research processes. Their inquiries consist of techniques and practices where is a long-term interpersonal relationship between researcher and participants with the goal of addressing the significant challenges that face humans in their respective surroundings using different approaches. The three researchers have carried out anthropological inquiries in the environments that are dominated by conflicts and dangerous threats to human existence which are featured in the Engaged Observer book. However, they have contrast and commonalities in their field lookup experiences.
Differences in Area Research Experiences
The three scholars have differences in their area research experiences. Skidmore is engaged in an advocacy and political field of research. For example, he has highlighted the political engagement in Burma with the military and he is also an activist where he advocates for the rights of the oppressed people in the society. Civico is research expert in conflict affairs and wars. For example, he was engaged in studying the challenges that the local populations faced during military operations in Colombia and also the fight between the government military and outlawed groups (Sanford and Angel-Ajani, 2006). Hernandez-Castillo has experienced in violence and gender affairs. For instance, Hernandez –Castillo studied political violence outbreak in Chiapas in Mexico. He also a gender expert where he is concerned about the impact of the violence on women.
Commonalities in Experiences
There are commonalities in the experiences of these three researchers. They are all engaged to conduct research in an environment that is hostile to humans (Sanford and Angel-Ajani, 2006). For instance, Skidmore states that the Burma military did not allow the scholars to do their research as they restricted movement of the civilians. The other similarities are that all the scholars have involved the victims of the wars as their participants in their studies to get reliable information about the phenomena.
Overcoming Difficulties
These scholars used various approaches to overcome the difficulties in the research environment. Skidmore and other scholars in Burma were traveling across the world to try and give good opinions about the continuance dictatorship rule in the country so that they can be given permission to proceed with their study work (Sanford and Angel-Ajani, 2006). Hernandez –Castillo was forced to use the voices of the victims and those people who have personally known the dangers of violence, demobilization, and terror to facilitate his research work. Civico collaborated with the militants so that to acquire information and security.
Conclusion
Civico, Hernandez-Castillo, and Skidmore are anthropologists that have faced various challenges in their research environment. Skidmore is a political scholar and activists while Civico deals with conflicts wars and politics as well. Hernandez- Castillo is also a political violence researcher. The most things about the three scholars are that they all deal with political affairs, their research participants are victims of wars, and all their studies are conducted in a hostile environment. They used various approaches to overcome their challenges by pretending to be supporters of the authority to gain a chance to conduct their studies. Therefore, Skidmore, Civico, and Hernandez-Castillo have field research experiences that have contrast, commonalities and they use various approaches to overcome difficulties in their research areas.
References
Sanford, V., & Angel-Ajani, A. (2006). Engaged observer: anthropology, advocacy, and activism. Rutgers University Press.
