Obstacles and Opportunities in Access to Professional Work Organizations for Long-term Fieldwork: The Case of Japanese Laboratories

Abstract

Professional work organizations such as corporations and government agencies are becoming important sites for anthropological research. As a result, we need more attention to one of the most difficult yet critical aspects of long-term fieldwork in such organizations: access. After delineating the critical features of professional work organizations, the author uses his experiences in Japanese and American bioscience laboratories to generate hypotheses concerning their dynamics of access. This article argues that we can increase access by identifying and serving the needs of the professional work organizations studied, and offers some exploratory suggestions for systematic intellectual treatment of the access issue. Modifications of our own professional practices and organization are suggested in light of the challenges posed by access to these organizations.