Fieldwork – “going there” – is the presumed norm and baseline of geographical research. In this commentary, I propose a framework for challenging the normative framing of fieldwork in geography and other fields (including those beyond academia): an ethic of not going there. I argue that fieldwork, rather than a neutral rite of passage, is deeply entwined with some of the most entrenched issues in contemporary geography and research more broadly. Building on a range of prior critiques and using the lens of “access”, I propose some ways for critiquing the presumptions inherent in geographical imaginaries of “fieldwork”. This ethical framework argues that doing geographical fieldwork should have to be justified to the same extent as not doing fieldwork is expected to be justified. I envision an ethic of not (always) going there as an alternative way of thinking about research (and researchers) within and beyond geography.

中文翻译：

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在不去那里的道德上

实地考察——“去那里”——是地理研究的假定规范和基线。在这篇评论中，我提出了一个挑战地理和其他领域（包括学术界以外的领域）田野工作规范框架的框架：不去那里的伦理。我认为田野调查，而不是一种中性的成人仪式，与当代地理学和更广泛研究中一些最根深蒂固的问题密切相关。基于一系列先前的批评并使用“访问”的镜头，我提出了一些方法来批评“田野调查”的地理想象中固有的假设。这个伦理框架认为，进行地理实地考察应该有与不做同样程度的正当性。预计进行实地调查是合理的。我设想一种不（总是）去那里的伦理作为思考地理内外研究（和研究人员）的另一种方式。