Anthropology of (and in the) state in Uruguay : Between challenges and opportunities to do

Abstract

Ethnographic production in places close to the researcher has been thematized and addressed in various debates recovered by anthropological literature. However, what happens when the research location coincides with the researcher's daily workplace? Furthermore, what happens when the field is “the state.” Based on these considerations, this article presents and discusses the methodological and ethical perspectives that have been tested during the process of ethnographic research when trying to produce knowledge in the context of my workplace. In this framework, I sought to think about the state from the practices, relationships and processes experienced in everyday life, in the encounter between public officials and rural women based on a new land policy with a gender perspective. The fact of being an official of the institution that applies the regulations and being very identified with its implementation motivated some trips during the field work, giving rise to ethical and methodological decisions that show some of the challenges and opportunities of doing anthropology of (and in the) state.