Ethnography and the new normal

Smith, Robin James ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7457-9690, Ablitt, Jonathan, Dahl, Patrik, Hoyland, Sylvia, Jimenez, Patricia, John, Zoe, Long, Fiona, Sheehan, Lucy and Williams, Joseph 2020. Ethnography and the new normal. Etnografia e ricerca qualitativa 2020 (2) , pp. 195-205. 10.3240/97805

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Abstract

This article responds to a number of broad-brush claims and statements pertaining to ethnographic research during the Covid-19 pandemic: namely, that ethnographic (and qualitative) research is impossible; that it is unethical; and that the pandemic represents a breach and has produced a new normal form of interaction order. The article draws from observations in public space and from one author’s ongoing fieldwork. We focus on a) an empirical analytic stance toward interaction in this so called unprecedented context, b) the occasioned and situated character of pandemic actions and members’ uses of existing methods, and, c) a discussion of ethical considerations grounded in a de-reification of the categories observer and observed. In summary, the article makes a strong case for ethnography as being possible, and possibly important, and aims to illustrate the highly contextual character of whether and when and how ethnographic research might continue during, and indeed immediately following, the pandemic.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Publisher:	Società Editrice il Mulino
ISSN:	1973-3194
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	17 December 2020
Date of Acceptance:	17 June 2020
Last Modified:	08 Nov 2024 04:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/137091

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