ABSTRACT
Today, many choose to work in cities and metropolitan areas, where the life of the anthropologist as well as 'participant observation' may take a different form. New topics, for instance the anthropology of migration, transnationalism, and media, have produced a whole range of new 'sites' for fieldwork. In this chapter, the author highlights common problems posed by research in a heterogeneous urban setting, the processes of inclusion and exclusion being not simply the result of factionalism and accidental association, but reflecting the interests and location of the anthropologist as well as of those with whom s/he comes to be associated. The author felt a feminist approach to gender implied more than an interest in kinship and the alleged privileged access to women female anthropologists enjoy in many contexts, the proposal needed some grounding. Clearly, feminist approaches to anthropological questions, city life, and the author's interest in the middle-classes were too close to home.
