What should we make of the fact that anthropological fieldwork is limited in time and space? This article argues that these limitations are productive reminding anthropologists of their only ever partial perspective on phenomena. Taking the counterpoint of expansive visions of multi-sited fieldwork which seek to encompass the totality of a phenomenon, this piece argues for the value of seeing fieldsites as arbitrary locations which help anthropologists challenge the coherence and totalising aspirations of their conceptual categories.

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