"If you give me some sexing, I might talk to you": researching the Senegalese beach-boys "at my side"

Abstract

This paper examines some of the difficulties that I encountered during my doctoral fieldwork on aspirations of migration amongst young men and women in Senegal. I discuss how my fieldwork with the beach-boys of the Casamance often led to compromising situations that I had not experienced in other areas of my research. Using one interview in particular, I describe the discomfort and guilt I often felt during my fieldwork, and show how I felt torn between being loyal to myself, my work and my informants. I show how the time I spent carrying out research with the coteman led to conflict between myself and my other Senegalese friends, who disapproved of my research and the people with whom I spent my time. Rather than this paper being about my research findings, it is about the research process.