Title:	Research Methods in Indigenous Contexts
Authors:	Arnold Groh
Keywords:	Indigenous
Issue Date:	2018
Publisher:	Springer
Description:	Defining indigenous contexts is challenging, as attempts to define indigeneity even at UN level have had only limited success. However, we can describe perspectives that are essential with regard to our topic. The cultural approach is seen as necessary, because research in indigenous contexts inevitably implies trans- and intercultural aspects. Due to the different backgrounds of persons involved in such field research, effects of transgenerational traumata need to be taken into consideration, since this burden might play a role for indigenous persons when encountering globalised persons. To gain more insight into the mechanisms, some relevant cultural theories are addressed. Several theorists have used the metaphor of a cultural spectrum, with “cold”, traditional, archaic or indigenous culture at one end and “hot”, modern, fast-changing culture at the other end. When we model cultural change according to cultural theories, synthesis of different cultures leads to “heating up” in the sense that the resulting culture, as compared to the predecessor cultures, is located in a “warmer” part of the spectrum, further away from the traditional end and closer to the end representing “hot”, modern, fast-changing culture. As another consequence, cultural dominance can be explained as resulting from the relative positions of cultures within the spectrum, because during the process of synthesis, those cultural elements are chosen to be kept that are expected to be advantageous, while those that are seen as less effective are given up. Thus, “hot” culture is dominant – and eventually destructive – towards “cold” culture. These perspectives clarify the constellation of roles, when globalised researchers are situated in indigenous contexts.
URI:	http://10.6.20.12:80/handle/123456789/55628
ISBN:	978-3-319-72776-9
Appears in Collections:	Population Studies

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