Critical participation, mere observation, or alienation: notes on research among the Baraguyu Maasai

Abstract

I have been doing what is conventionally called fieldwork among the Baraguyu of test Bagamoyo District for just over one year; the number of days i have actually spent in the field, however, add up to just over two months. Owing to the exigencies of my other duties, the longest single period I spent in the area in which the Baraguyu live was two weeks, this being almost immediately followed by a further week. All the rest of the trips I managed to make to the area have ave¬raged two or three days each.