The politics of gatekeeping: respondents as gatekeepers and gatekeepers as respondents.

The important role of gatekeepers in accessing and negotiating the field has been well established. In this research note, we highlight an underexplored dimension of gatekeeping in relation to our fieldwork on the Kalbeliya community of Rajasthan in India. Existing scholarship on the Kalbeliyas has...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Qualitative Research Vol. 25; no. 5; pp. 1154 - 1164
Autores principales: Ranwa, Ruchika, Thapar-Björkert, Suruchi
Formato: Journal Article
Publicado: Sage Publications Inc. Oct2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
fields @attributes:
  recordID: 1
pdfLink:
plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=188670641&site=ehost-live
header:
  @attributes:
    shortDbName: ccm
    uiTerm: 188670641
    longDbName: CINAHL Complete
    uiTag: AN
  controlInfo:
    bkinfo:
    dissinfo:
    jinfo:
      jid:
        14687941
        NLI
      jtl: Qualitative Research
      issn: 14687941
      maglogo: Y
    pubinfo:
      dt: Oct2025
      vid: 25
      iid: 5
      pid: 344
      pub: Sage Publications Inc.
      place: Thousand Oaks, California
    artinfo:
      ui:
        188670641
        181753836
        10.1177/14687941241306417
        188670641
      ppf: 1154
      ppct: 10
      formats:
      tig:
        atl: The politics of gatekeeping: respondents as gatekeepers and gatekeepers as respondents.
      aug:
        au:
          Ranwa, Ruchika
          Thapar-Björkert, Suruchi
        affil: Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
      sug:
        subj:
          Field Studies India
          Research Subjects
          Culture
          Interpersonal Relations
          India
          Power
          Research Methodology
          Communities
          Social Perception
          Women Psychosocial Factors
          Interviews
          Cultural Values
      ab: The important role of gatekeepers in accessing and negotiating the field has been well established. In this research note, we highlight an underexplored dimension of gatekeeping in relation to our fieldwork on the Kalbeliya community of Rajasthan in India. Existing scholarship on the Kalbeliyas has mainly focused on the politics of heritage recognition of Kalbeliya dance of India, which was recognized as Intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2010. Nonetheless, no significant research exists on the methodological challenges encountered in this field. Our navigations in the field uncovered an aspect deeply embedded in arguably, the multi-layered nature of gatekeeping – the blurred boundaries and shifting positionalities between gatekeepers and respondents, with respondents acting as gatekeepers and gatekeepers as respondents. In this research, key respondents were Kalbeliya women dancers and other respondents included state officials, Manganiyars and Kalbeliya men, who acted as gatekeepers in accessing Kalbeliya dancers. These shifting positionalities also exposed their gendered power dynamics, which shaped our methodological navigations in the field.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
    refInfo:
    holdings:
      @attributes:
        islocal: N