“Breaking the ice” in Arctic Canada: Motherhood capital and the experiences of community-based research when accompanied by an infant

Abstract

Drawing on community-based tourism fieldwork in the Canadian Arctic, this presentation examines the field experiences of one of the authors who decided to bring her infant son with her into the field. Utilising Lo’s (2016) concept of “motherhood capital”, we argue that unexpectedly, the presence of her son (who travelled with her on five occasions between the age of nine and twenty-two months) helped rather than hindered her acceptance into Inuit communities. Perhaps due to the child-centred nature of the communities, or the shared common ground of parenthood, we argue that her demonstration of motherhood had the effect of breaking down several of the barriers some researchers face when entering communities for the first time. Essentially, her son acted as an icebreaker, a catalyst, and an agent of change in the research process. We suggest that her demonstration of motherhood capital facilitated her privileged access to the field and changed her perceived status from a white researcher to an equal-status mother. This was particularly important in an indigenous context where she was always going to be seen as ‘other’. Drawing on journal entries, this presentation adopts a reflexive approach to explore the influences the infant had on her experiences in the field (particularly related to gaining access and building trust); the adaptations she made and the lessons learned that may help other parents considering taking an infant into the field. Through the use of the theoretical concept of capital, we also demonstrate that, following Harrington (2003), it can be fruitful to apply theory to examine researcher interactions.