IS THIS ETHNOGRAPHY?

These considerations mentioned above, call to question the nature of the study of ethnic minorities. The historical interethnic conditions that have influenced the social framework in which our global community functions (as outlined previously), have also impacted on traditional ways of conducting research into ethnic minorities. Sociological studies of race have often been distorted by having been centred in the perspective and experiences of dominant group members who have applied ethnocentric concepts to such study (Anderson, 1 993). In fact, much of the ethnic research done today (mostly anthropological) has a racist history in which the development of racism and some anthropological methods run parallel

to each other (Bogin, 1999). Ethnography, which is the traditional method employed in the study of the ethnic 'other', was born out of the unbalanced relationship between Europeans

and non-Europeans. It is essentially a description of 'other' ethnicities written by people from western ethnicities. Ethnographies represent 'the grand encounter of the West with the rest' (Fox, 1 99 1 : 1 1 ) which distinguishes self from the primitive or savage 'other', the enlightened outsider from the unenlightened insider.

The goal of the ethnographer is to describe a way of life of a particular group from within, that is, by understanding and communicating not only what happens but how the members of the group interpret and understand what happens. The primary technique used in ethnographic research is participant observation, which usually involves living or otherwise spending extended periods with the people 'one is trying to understand. ' (Kornblum in Smith & Kornblum, 1 996:2). During this time, supposedly objective data about that group is gathered and presented from the ethnographer's perspective. However, it is widely known that so-called objective conditions are always associated with subjective definitions, stereotypes, identifications, likes and dislikes, and belief systems (Tajfel, 1 978), therefore cannot be objective. It follows then, that the data that is produced by these ethnographers is their subjective interpretations and representations of the social 'realities' of the ethnic 'others', shaped by their likes and dislikes, stereotypes, beliefs and such like. Many of these cultures have been grossly misrepresented for this reason, and also due to misunderstanding caused by miscommunication, and even suppression of the 'native point of view' (Clifford in Fox, 1 99 1 : 6). Fox ( 1 99 1 : 5-6) alleges that such cultural and professional contortions are ever present; consequently, we are much more suspicious of ethnography's claim to provide a tidy picture of the 'other' .

The justification for ethnography has been, and still is, that these so-called uncivilised cultures are supposedly incapable of representing themselves. However, globalisation and migration have now created an awareness of the capability of and need for non-western peoples to speak for themselves, inter alia. Post-modem anthropologists recognise that 'the present condition of the world both compels and enables radically novel works' (Clifford in Fox, 1 994: 5). Increasingly, peoples from these communities are now presenting their own accounts of their worlds. This process is completely different from those employed by outsiders. It does not 'seek to understand' some other group of people through intense

involvement with one's subjects, and the ethnographer's 'presentation of self (Smith and Kornblum, 1 996: 2). Conversely, it involves representations of the group by one of its own who is an insider. This difference needs to be recognised and described as such, so that there is no ambiguity about the nature and authenticity of the information being presented.

5.6 'COMMUNOGRAPHY'

In response to this need for recognition of the ethnic minority's representation of the self and the authenticity of the information being presented, this study proposes a new label that will separate the authentic work of minorities from those of the uninformed outsider. This label will describe research undertaken by a researcher who is a member of the community being described. As an insider, the researcher does not need to negotiate her position with the subjects and spend prolonged periods of time with them within an artificially created situation. As a member of the community, she has first hand knowledge of the perceptions of this group, which constitute their social 'reality', and is presenting the perceptions of her own community. In terms of the present research, visible ethnic minorities of Asian origin are being described by a member of this broad group. As an ethnic minority person of Asian origin, the researcher is located within the world of the Asian ethnic minority, and lives their experiences with them. To the traditional European ethnographer this study may appear to be 'quasi-ethnographic', as it seems to be ethnographic, but is not really so in that the researcher is a person from the community being studied (Appadurai, 1 99 1 ; Anderson, 1 993). Such a concern would be justified. Although the word 'ethnography' is defined as the ' scientific description of races of men' (Fowler & Fowler, 1 964), traditional ethnography (as has been explained above) has been Eurocentric involving a person of European origin who was regarded as non-ethnic, entering and studying the lives of the ethnic 'other' .

Rather than describe studies of ethnic minorities done by ethnic minorities as ethnographies done by ' halfie' or ' indigenous' ethnographers, terms utilised by post-modem ethnographers Abu-Lughod and Limon respectively (Fox, 1 99 1 :4), it is proposed that this study be considered to be, more specifically, a communography. In this study, a

communography is portrayed as a community's written description of itself, involving many insider voices, not only that of the researcher. The goal of the communographer who is a member of the community of people being represented is to describe their own way of life and worldview, and their interpretation and understanding of it, together with their current perceptions and experiences of their world. This will include the 'ethnoscapes' which are the new 'landscapes of group identity' (Appadurai, 1 99 1 : 1 9 1 in Fox, 1 99 1 ) in which people find themselves today. Such a description would make it possible to distinguish these studies from those done by outsiders studying the ethnic 'other' .

In light of this explanation, it is proposed that this research be considered to be a

communography of visible ethnic minority pupils of Asian origin in three Auckland secondary schools. During this type of research causes and explanations will be provided from their perspective, and theories will be developed about why the respondents behave the way they do. Such hypotheses are expected to emerge from the research as it goes along, rather than be specified from the start and used as a guide to the kind of data that is

sought and collected (McNeill, 1 990).