Khmer Women on the Move by Annuska Derks

1. Methodological approach & Writing Style

a. After having read some engaging and excellent books (In Search of Respect, Sheila’s Shop and Sidewalk) I had great hopes for Khmer Women on the Move by Annuska Derks. Unfortunately I have found myself counting pages in order to finish the book, as I did with Unequal Childhoods. The book suggest it will explore the work and life in urban Cambodia. My excitement was further fueled because of Alex’s work in Cambodia. I looked forward to hearing the voice of those who lived through the Khmer Rouge and those who were born after, who are growing into women since the war and terror reign ended-how have their lives been shaped and how are they shaping their lives.

b. I have learned a great bit about life of Cambodian women both in the urban world as well as village life. I’ve learned about the language-which I really appreciate, but I’ve missed the actual VOICE of women. Like the author of Unequal Childhoods, the author Khmer Women on the Move provides less of the voice of the participants, less of the story and more of a summary of issues.

c. I’m disappointed because the potential is so great. One of the very basic things I learned in one of the first classes of my doctoral program was that qualitative data should be RICH & THICK. In Khmer Women on the Move I find the data to be THIN & SPARSE. On page 46 there is a paragraph on gender meanings of power and subservience. The author asks:

How useful are texts like the Chbap Srey that were written centuries ago? Do these texts hold any relevance for present gender ideals or should they be seen as merely an idealized picture of norms and values of a minority elite in a previous time?

I wrote in the margin: what a great place for participant voice. In this example I demonstrate how the majority of this book offers a summary of topics but does not offer participant voice to put some “meat on the bones.” I believe it would have been so intriguing to have three perspectives on this. An elder who is in the stage of Cambodian life where she is taken care of by her children or grandchildren and is able to focus on spiritual matters-what does she think of the relevance of the Chbap Srey?

An unmarried sex worker living in Phnom Penh and finally a married young woman. These three perspectives or voices would have made the question come to life-would have helped me feel like I knew the women.

2. Findings based on data

a. The author does an excellent job of documenting facts and perspectives. To me the book feels like one LONG literature review section. Because of the lack of participant voices, the quotes and references seem to link fact or perspective together rather than supporting a participant voice or assertion.

Handwashing Doesn't Matter

I was diligent in washing my hands! I even avoided touching door handles, opting instead to push with my forearm or holding the door open with my foot. Even being cautious, I still had this:

Swine Flu Symptoms

According to the CDC, like seasonal flu, symptoms of swine flu infections can include:

• fever, which is usually high, but unlike seasonal flu, is sometimes absent
• cough
• runny nose or stuffy nose
• sore throat
• body aches
• headache
• chills
• fatigue or tiredness, which can be extreme
• diarrhea and vomiting, sometimes, but more commonly seen than with seasonal flu

Charlotte FOR SURE had this! I had to go to the doctor's office today and it was FULL. Even the nurse was sniffly too!

Findings Based on Data-Sidewalk

I learned more about the workings of New York from reading Sidewalk than I've ever known before. Never before, in my life, could I discuss Local Law #33. No joke! I believe I am able to have an intelligent discussion about the pros and cons or as Duneier put it how "Every policy h as its unintended consequences" (p. 187) of the written matter law. As someone stated on our threaded discussion: this guy fact checks!

I'm amazed at how easily Duneier weaves in an education about conversation analysis and details the length of time for a female to respond or simply how accurate Mudrick's portrayal of his relaitonship with his grandaughter is-due to fact presentation.

Duneier painstakingly presents facts that have been well-checked every lead followed beyond what is needed but is certainly appreciated.

Duneier discusses in his methodology section that he was, at times, close to broke-so much so that he could barely afford the tapes for the tape recorder; yet I began reading the book thinking "this guy must have a trust fund or something to have the money to hang around on the sidewalk for several years." Yet what I'm so amazed to learn is that Duneier did not have endless money nor did he simply sit on the sidewalk constantly for five years-rather he worked summers and holidays on the sidewalk picking up his stories where he left off.

One of the amazing things is that the social order of the sidewalk seems to have remained relatively stable during these years whereas most middle-class "housed" individuals would think these "unhoused" folks to be completely unstable and wanderers.

I think Duneier's data almost flawless and from my inexperienced perspective I am star-struck.

From Cuteoverload.com

Sidewalk-More Writing Style & Viewpoints

Duneier makes three statements supporting my previous reframing discussion:

· “These conditions lead to a resocialization of the individual” (p. 185).

· “Every policy has its unintended consequences” (p. 18

· “not simply because the sidewalk was different but because the lens for viewing the sidewalk was different” (p. 192).

Previously I noted how the men (and Alice) actually “fit” in to a society that has been created for and by them and thus the quote above where Duneier states the lens for viewing is different. Because of his relationships with the men, just as Bourgois had relationships in In Search of Respect, so too did Duneier develop relationships with these individuals. However Duneier does tremendous work to follow every story to its origin. Still the microcosm created on the sidewalk is a miniature system. I was repeatedly amazed at the level of detail and the worries, thoughts, troubles, struggles, and joys the sidewalk men experienced, they were so very normal.

Irony

I admit as I entered the final third of the book I struggled to keep going. The density was fairly consuming and Duneier provided so much thought-provoking data that to keep going seemed overwhelming.

I found the discussion on bodily functions interesting. In one passage the author writes:

“Washington fucking Square Park and they can’t put toilet seats right here? They could fix it, but they don’t want to fix it. They want to keep our ass out of there. I can’t go I there and take a dump in there. I can hardly hold my breath to go in that motherfucker. If I had to take a dump right now, I’d go right behind that tree right there. It’s air out there. You go in there, you ain't got no privacy. That thing suppose to have a partition.” p. 185.

How very ironic that Mudrick is so upset about the ability to have privacy in the restroom yet he states if he needed to go, he’d just go behind a tree in the park. This strikes me as profoundly ironic and an excellent example of how Mudrick and his associates function in a world within the world and sometimes the world he functions in has different values, assumptions, and behaviors associated that the greater system may frown upon, yet created.

Writing Style-Sidewalk

I have thoroughly enjoyed the readability of Sidewalk. I find Duneier's style engaging and enlightening. The conversations Duneier presents are relevant and have a fit with his micro and macro theory discussions.

Duneier does an excellent job of leading the reader into and out of all quotes while using theory wisely. I find that Duneier writes in a way that theory is used not only after a quote but is used to introduce quotes or conversations and is done so in a way that any educated reader can find useful and then practically applied in the quote or conversation.

Duneier's work gave respect and a needed view of the life of the people such as Hakim, Mudrick, Marvin, Ron or Joe Garbage. Instead of using the dominant (and easier) view of these individuals as simply deviants who cannot fit into society, Duneier brilliantly (in my opinion) demonstrates and documents how these men fit wonderfully into society, the society that has been handed to them! Duneier states "But after spending five years on the blocks, I would propose that the role of the public character need not be filled by conventionally respectable people. Not only do the vendors and scavengers, often unhoused, abide by codes and norms; but mostly their presence on the street enhances the social order" (p. 43).

In a quote I noted previously I appreciated the transparency Duneier that he was uneasy about the looking at the gaps between himself and the people he sought to understand. Possibly he was worried that what separated "them" from "us" was not such a great abyss after all. Once Duneier began presenting the story of the sidewalk and the individuals who worked there, plus those who interacted with them, the individuals became real persons, not deviants that could easily be labeled and ignored. Mudrick's love for his granddaughter is a love easily shared as we all have children or relatives we adore. Further Ron has his incidents where he indulges in drink or drugs but Marvin takes it in stride. Instead of becoming furious Marvin has an even temperament and prepares for how to respond-just as we would with a treasured friend struggling with an addiction.

This book is a gift in the it offers a respectable view and honestly lives out the golden rule: treat others as you would want to be treated. I find Duneier's kindness and respect towards these relationships one created out of his care and respect.

GREAT Article from Zen Habits Contributor Jonathan Mead

http://zenhabits.net/2009/09/the-world-needs-you-to-do-what-you-love/

This is an excellent article. Even just the first couple of paragraphs are a treasure:

Article by Zen Habits contributor Jonathan Mead.

The greatest change happens because of people that are deeply passionate, and have a great love for the work they do.

If you want to make a difference in the world, the single most important thing you can do is consciously and deliberately choose to do work that you are passionate about.

No other choice can have a greater impact on the planet, or your life.

Methodological Memo-Sidewalk-3; Looking for what's going on

"At this stage of my research, I sought mainly to diagnose the processes at work in this setting and to explain the observed patterns of interactions of people." (p. 341)

Duneier states that he believes 2 things that I like:

1. You really need to decide your design after you collect data

2. He really sought to determine the processes (maco) going on and then to explain the relationships between people in relation to these relationships

As a doctoral STUDENT I don't believe we get the freedom to collect data prior to having a design! I can just imagine trying to explain THAT to an IRB! Thus I believe that one must be flexible in design but has to have an outline and a direction in order to be realistic-at least until one has the freedom to spend several years on the sidewalk.

I really appreciate the observations (and pictures) presented by Duneier. The story is engaging and enlightening. Duneier does a thorough job of using theory to inform his work (although he states that he found the theories after he'd already begun collecting data) and finding a nice fit between many of the relationships observed and sociological or political theory. Further Duneier does a nice job of documenting the systemic responses to local law 33 as well as federal laws (such as those related to crack versus cocaine and the prison or jail time related to each).

Diagnostic Ethnography & Extended Place Method

I find it fascinating that Duneier's Sidewalk is labeled by Erik Wright. Isn't this just ethnography?

Creswell (2007) writes "Although a grounded theory researcher develops a theory from examining many individuals who share in the same process, action, or interaction, the study participants are not likely to be located in the same place or interacting on so frequent a basis that they develop shared patterns of behavior, beliefs, and language. An ethnographer is interested in examining these shared patterns, and the unit of analysis is larger than the 20 or so individuals involved in a grounded theory study. An ethnography focuses on an entire cultural group." (p. 68)

Seeming to suggest a similar diagnosis as Duneier, Creswell states "Ethnography is a qualitative design in which the researcher describes and interprets the shared and learned patterns of values, behaviors, beliefs, and language of a culture-sharing group" (p. 68). Where Duneier and Creswell differ is in explicitly examining the macro relationships or processes that link behaviors with broad processes that link behaviors with sociological theories.

Duneier stradle multiple types of ethnography. Duneier takes some components of a critical ethnography but is not an advocate for emancipation while also using visual ethnography by using the work of Ovie Carter while using both the extended case and participant observation method.

All of these things meld into an engaging and easily readable work.

Methodological Memo-Sidewalk-2 SKIMPY

From Sidewalk:

"On the other hand, when it comes to the connection between these details and constraints and opportunities, his or her claims can seem quite skimpy by contrast." (p. 343)

On several occasions I have changed my writing because I did not have enough detail to document my claim well-enough. Duneier's note, above, provides some relief from the pressure of having to have "3 points and an alter call" in my work.

I liked that Duneier allows for the space for "skimpy" work because before a theory is born it is a notion and that notion my come from one situation that prompted inquiry.

I believe that the exponential strides we make in learning come from skimpy situations where we take a chance or question a notion-not in taking the safe routes and only detailing what we have robust documentation (which leads to incremental learning most of the time, not exponential!)

Great Thought to Ruminate On..

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith. Henry Ward Beecher.

I choose faith.

Methodological Memo-Sidewalk

I have greatly enjoyed Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier.

After reading about one-third of the work I wanted to know more about the methodology so I flipped to the Appendix where Duneier discusses his methods. Several statements captured my attention:

• "Fieldwork can be a morally ambiguous enterprise." (p. 336)

• "The question for me is how to show respect for the people I write about, given the impossibility of complete sincerity at every moment (in research as in life)." (p. 336)

• "Surely, it would have been a methodological error for me to believe that apparent rapport is real trust" (p. 338).

• "Once again the Becker principle comes into play: most social processes are so organized that the presence of a tape recorder (or a white male) is not as influential as all the other pressures, obligations, and possible sanctions in the setting." (p. 340)

• "There were things that showed up over and over again on my tape" (this is the data talking and the part I just love!)

• "At this stage of my research, I sought mainly to diagnose the processes at work in this setting and to explain the observed patterns of interactions of people." (p. 341)

• "Research design often emerges after data has been collected" (Oh the LUXURY of already having your PhD)

• "There is no such thing as a logical method for having new ideas" (This is just SO TRUE for someone who has IDEATION as her #1 strength!!!)

• "On the other hand, when it comes to the connection between these details and constraints and opportunities, his or her claims can seem quite skimpy by contrast." (p. 343)

• "Most people were much more interested in how they looked in the photographs than in how they sounded or were depicted." (p. 348)

Thoughts in response to these quotes:

• Is fieldwork really morally ambiguous? I believe we start off with a moral urging which drives us into the fieldwork, which shapes our research and research question(s) but do we really become ambiguous as we submerge ourself into the data? In thinking about fieldwork I would say that it is critical to be open to more than one interpretation however is it vital to be morally open to more than one? As I wrestle with this notion I believe it important to be open because my own values may not be the values and priorities of those in my study those I should not impose my values, beliefs onto the participant.
• "Once again the Becker principle comes into play: most social processes are so organized that the presence of a tape recorder (or a white male) is not as influential as all the other pressures, obligations, and possible sanctions in the setting." (p. 340)-So this thought basically proposes that life is on "autopilot" and until something knocks life off-course it will continue on the same path in mindless movement. I agree with this. I think that American society gets so caught up in the busy-ness of life that we forget to experience life. In Unequal Childhoods the author noted one child's life that was so structured and so busy he had little time for reflection or even a slow pace. I think our country is on autopilot and it takes a big "something" every once in a while to whack us off course for us to re-examine priorities and values. I think this is the case for Christians too!

Great Quote from Sidewalk by Mitchell Duneier

"When I began, I knew that if I was to find out what was taking place on the sidewalk, I would have to bridge many haps between myself and the people I hoped to understand. This involved thinking carefully about who they are and who I am. 

I was uneasy." (p. 20)

I think this is a powerful quote and applicable to many of life's (and faith's) situations!