Capitalising on rapport, emotional labour and colluding with the neoliberal academy

Abstract

This paper raises questions about how ethics in principle are played out in practice when conducting field research. Drawing on my feminist doctoral research I discuss the challenges experienced conducting field research to explore everyday experiences of gender and poverty in Mumbai, India. The paper aims to provide a reflective account of methodological practice from the perspective of an early career social researcher in the context of negotiating power inequalities within the academy. In particular, showcasing the turmoil experienced in seemingly colluding with the neoliberal academy by capitalising on rapport to gain data efficiently and produce research at the expense of the research participants. The paper suggests that by engaging with difficult questions about rapport and collusion, it presents an opportunity for an early career feminist researcher to test the limits of productive collusion and/or engineered rapport. While raising more questions than answers, this paper revisits questions about ethics in the field concerning rapport and collusion and discusses the tensions between authentic rapport building with strategic or manufactured rapport building in social research while differentiating between the professional and the personal especially as friendships develop with research participants.