Noi culturi, noi antropologii - Humanitas

along with other challenges described below, I adopted a
decentered ethnographic approach to my research. When
applied to studies of social movements, a decentered approach
does not assume coherence in the movement, but
pays attention to the diversity of movement participants.
This approach proved useful from a practical methodological
standpoint, but also from a theoretical standpoint, as the
splits I discovered in the environmental community parallel
splits that exist in the larger Moldovan society.
This paper further discusses the methodological challenges
I faced in researching the environmentalist community
in Chişinău, Moldova for my doctoral dissertation. It
describes how a decentered ethnographic approach allowed
me to make progress in my research and ultimately gave
me theoretical insights into environmentalism in Moldova.
Eventually I realized that environmentalism certainly exists
in Moldova; it just looks much different from how I envisioned
it before arriving in the field.
Research Challenges
In conceptualizing my research of environmentalism in Moldova,
I planned to use a multi-sited ethnographic approach,
following George Marcus 368 . More specifically, I envisioned
using the technique of „following the people“, a method
designed to follow the movements of individuals or groups
through different settings in order to better understand the
complexity of their actions and viewpoints 369 . I wanted to follow
individual environmentalists as they worked within various
NGOs, created partnerships with other individuals and
groups, and worked on several projects at different stages.
Several factors made it necessary to alter my approach.
First, it was difficult to find environmentalists who were
devoted full-time to environmental projects. For example,
368. George E. Marcus, Ethnography through thick and thin, Princeton
University Press, Princeton, 1998.
369. Ibid., p. 90.
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