Field, ethics and self: negotiating methodology in a Hindu right wing camp

ABSTRACT

There is a luxury in self-reproach. When we blame ourselves, we feel that no one else has a right to blame us. It is the confession, not the priest, that gives us absolution. (Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray)

Feminist research methodology has made a strong case for emotionality as a legitimate part of not only the research process but also, as a valid addition to the data gathered. Research in risky environments presents tangible threats in the form of physical and mental exhaustion, and harm. It also becomes an avenue to confront emotions that go beyond the encounter with change. These emotions are extremely personal but contain within them the potential to threaten the researcher's mental well-being (in the form of trauma or shock), the ethics guiding the research or abandonment of the research project. This article concurs with Lal's [Lal, J. (1996). Situating locations: The politics of self, identity, and ‘other’ in living and writing the text. In D. L. Wolf (Ed.), Feminist dilemmas in fieldwork (pp. 185–214). Boulder, CO: Westview Press] assertion that we need to go beyond reflexivity during the research process and use it for ‘political action’. By using data collected during participant observation at a camp that was conducted by the women's group associated with the largest Hindu nationalist organisation in India, the article attempts to situate the emotion of guilt as an inseparable part of the research experience and makes a case for utilising it not only for more ethically sound research but also, an honest and empowering research process.

KEYWORDS:

• Rashtra Sevika Samiti
• Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
• feminist research methodology
• ethics
• gender
• guilt

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Geolocation information

New Delhi and Mumbai, India.

Notes on contributor

Aastha Tyagi is an MPhil candidate at the Department of Sociology, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. Her research is focussed on the Rashtra Sevika Samiti and the construction of gendered Hindutva. She has degrees in Media and Culture Studies (Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai) and English Literature (IP College, University of Delhi).

Notes

1 Sex and desire during fieldwork seem to be taboo even among researchers who encourage the cause of emotionality in research. I would like to thank Professor Monique Michal Marks, who discussed this issue in her keynote address at the KOSMOS Conference, Institute of African and Asian Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin on 26–27 July 2016. Cf. Cain, Postlewait, and Thompson (2004).

2 The political implications of one's institutional affiliation are heightened when one is engaging in research like this. Without a thorough examination, academia in India, and elsewhere, has been branded partisan. There is a deeper, more sinister impact of such statements in the light of the recent conflicts between the state and universities like Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and the University of California, Berkeley.

3 It is important to note that my name (last name) is a carrier of my caste and when someone in the field required my name, they would demand my full name. With that knowledge, many attendees, especially older Samiti members, spoke to me in terms of a caste solidarity that was incredibly uncomfortable, but could not be articulated in a setting like the camp. It should also be noted that the Sangh combine is against caste discrimination in theory.

4 Interviews were recorded for two reasons: firstly, as they were long, I did not want to miss out on any detail. Secondly, I anticipated that if I did not have proof in the form of recordings, I would be accused of lying in my thesis by the RSS and Samiti authorities. All interviews were recorded with the consent of the respondents.

5 There have been an equal number of news reports on self-constituted vigilante groups claiming to be part of the ‘Squads’ that harass young couples in public places (Poonam, 2017).

6 ‘Love Jehad’ or ‘Love Jihad’ is a narrative that is prevalent in Hindu right wing organisations in India. The classic trope of ‘Love Jehad’ involves young Muslim men trapping impressionable Hindu girls to convert them to Islam, forcing them to have many children and finally, trafficking them to ‘Muslim countries’. The narrative banks on two stereotypes of Muslims created by the Hindu right in India that accuse them of being lascivious and unable to control their sexual urges. It stems from the Hindu right's fear of the Muslim population overtaking the majority Hindu population in the country (Gupta, 1998, 2009; Rao, 2013). Cautionary tales of young women who fall for men who are not from their immediate kin groups are relayed to young women who attend the camps. Such rumours have taken sinister turns in the form of communal riots in Gujarat in 2002 and Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh in 2013. The camp I attended included young women from the districts near Muzaffarnagar where communal riots took place three months later.

7 One could not write endlessly – the lights were turned off at 10 pm. Those who disobeyed were threatened with punishment. One did not get to see what punishment was in store as no one disobeyed the rule.

8 Here I am not harking back to the traditional understanding of ‘objective research’ but a more nuanced definition of ‘detachment’ given by Obeysekere (1990) as ‘observing the experience’.

9 Before I was allowed to exit the camp, I was asked to appear before the entire group of Samiti women who were in charge of it. I was asked to show my research notebooks and share the recordings of my interviews with the young women. While my research notebooks (and not my journal) only had meticulous details of the camp, those Samiti women who were well versed with the Roman script were appreciative of the effort. I was terrified of sharing the recordings with the members and used the excuse of not having the equipment to transfer the files. The Samiti members were not convinced and demanded that I let one of the members listen to the interviews. I manipulated the file name quickly and played the interview of an attendee whose views were attuned to the ideology of the Sangh Combine. I breathed a sigh of relief when the Samiti member declared that the interview was harmless. I was then asked to share my data with the members and send my thesis to them before I made the final submission to my educational institute. Before I left, I hugged all the members goodbye, thanked them for allowing me into the camp, and promised them I would keep in touch.