ARTICLES ETHNOGRAPHY’S BLIND SPOT Intimacy, Violence, and Fieldwork Relations in South Africa Erik Bähre Abstract: It is conventional to point out the disintegrative and dysfunc- tional effects of violence and relegate it to processes outside the social realm. Yet this study argues that a relexive approach to ethnography can reveal the integrative potential of violence. It examines the theo- retical importance of the ethnographer’s anxieties about (a) violence, (b) the precarious dependencies during ieldwork in a violent setting, and (c) concerns about representing violence in academic work. Such a relexive approach shows why these anxieties can both conceal and reveal the sociality of violence. The study draws on personal ieldwork experiences to show how violence became central to the relationships the author developed with his assistants during research in South Africa. Keywords: Cape Town, ethnography, ieldwork, intimacy, relexivity, research assistants, South Africa, violence Violence is a tremendous problem in South Africa, not least in the townships of Cape Town where I carried out most of my ethnographic research. Because of the threat of violence, I depended heavily on my research assistants, Joseph, Edith, and Mandisa. 1 Over a period of nearly 20 years, they translated Xhosa for me, took care of my safety, and helped me understand the complex and volatile relations in the townships. Not only were they fundamental to my safety, a responsibility they took very seriously, but I could not have wished for better guidance and help. During our intensive collaboration, it became painfully clear that Joseph, Edith, and Mandisa were victims of the everyday violence of poverty, racism, and economic marginality. Violence quickly became a horriic yet pivotal aspect of the relationships that made up our ethnographic encounter. However, in ret- rospect I have come to realize that they were not only victims of violence. They Social Analysis, Volume 59, Issue 3, Fall 2015, 1–16 © Berghahn Journals doi:10.3167/sa.2015.590301 • ISSN 0155-977X (Print) • ISSN 1558-5727 (Online)