Collaborative and transdisciplinary research have become influential in anthropology, emphasizing socially engaged, reflexive, and power-sharing approaches to knowledge production. While proponents highlight their potential for more just and innovative outcomes, such practices also face challenges, including institutional constraints, risks of exploitation, and longer timelines for results. Collaboration intersects with debates on representation, reflexivity, public anthropology, and decolonizing agendas, while varying degrees of reciprocity and control depend on political outlook, social similarity, and diversity among participants. Despite its popularity, collaboration requires critical reflection to avoid misuse and to address the uncertainties of open-ended research design.

De la Croix, Tabitha. 2021. “Collaboration in Ethnography.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.174.