Search results for "ethnography"

Multisensory discourse resources : decolonizing ethnographic research practices

2020

Researchers have attempted to address the intersection of multisensory and multimodal discourse practices from an interactional perspective. This study argues for the value of experiential, non-interactional multisensory discourse resources and proposes a conceptual framework of multisensory discourse resources to bridge visual and family language ideology ethnography. A year-long ethnographic case study of three Nepalese families (immigrant and transmigrant), consisting of 150 h of observational data triangulated with qualitative interviews, posed two questions: (1) How do transnational families, in the homescape, use multisensory discourse resources to provide cultural, national, religiou…

Virtual proximity and transnational familyhood : a case study of the digital communication practices of Poles living in Finland

2020

The article presents a study of five Polish multicultural and multilingual families in Finland, and their engagement in digitally mediated family communication. Explored through an ethnographic inquiry into the in-app communication practices of Polish migrant mothers and children, the study contributes to the body of research at the intersection of new media and communication, transnational family and migration studies, and family multilingualism. Building on the concept of virtual proximity, which refers to the emotional closeness between individuals afforded by digital technologies and mobile communication, the study identifies four thematic patterns in participants’ practices in digital …

Ethnography with a Twist

2019

Brokerage from within: A conceptual framework

2021

Situated between various social worlds, brokers are highly mobile figures, in a physical and an ideational sense; they channel scarce information and resources, translate different languages and jargons, and mediate and facilitate between individuals and/or organisations, the local and the global, in a wide range of settings. Taking an in-depth ethnographic look at the actual work of brokers and their particular life stories, contributions to this special issue examine brokers’ successes and failures, their vulnerabilities and limitations, (changing) interests and motivations within the cultural contexts that these brokers are part of. By adopting a comparative perspective in a thematic an…

Practices of grading: an ethnographic study of educational assessment

2013

The school as an institution assumes that students' grades are constituted by their assessments. This paper examines the background of this presupposition and provides a micro-analytical perspective of the grading practice of teachers in German High Schools (Gymnasium). This paper conceptualises the theoretical framework of the research in educational measurement in discussion. It is shown that the measured assessment of students and the teacher's observations are linked. When grading, teachers construct their own assessments. This process is depicted in this paper by two forms of observations: self-observation within the context of written examinations and third-party observation within th…

Police violence in West Africa : Perpetrators' and ethnographers' dilemmas

2012

This article explores the use of violence by police officers and gendarmes in Ghana and Niger. We analyse how popular discourses, legal and organizational conditions frame the police use of violence. Acts of violence by police are situated in this inconsistent framework and can be seen as legal and appropriate, despicable and brutal, or as useful and morally legitimate. Thus, every time the police use violence, they face a major dilemma: legally and morally justified violence can be a source of long-term legitimacy; but because of multiple possible readings of a certain situation (according to different, conflicting moral and legal discourses), the very same action has potentially delegiti…

Muslim Atmospheres as Neighbourhoods of Religious Diasporic Microspheres

2016

In many countries around the globe, Muslims not only form a statistical religious minority, but also are mainly regarded as a homogeneous group by the average citizen, the press and politicians. Concepts of Muslim diaspora seem to frequently reinforce this idea, implying that Muslims are building a global community endangering supposedly peaceful cohabitation within nation-states. In contrast, this article, based on a case study in Argentina, shows that diasporic communities can be fruitfully conceptualised as socio-cultural orders with a special ‘atmosphere’, which is formed by the emotional connections between group members and their surroundings, which transcend borders of nation-states.…

Kashubian Lake Calling

2020

This study leads the reader to some remote Kashubian villages, located on the shores of Lake Słupino, Poland. The residents of these villages have witnessed uncanny transformations of their once familiar lake in recent years. Through changes in color, odor and matter, Słupino has obtruded itself to call out the problem of pollution. How does the lake express itself? How does it affect the everyday life of the inhabitants? To approach the specific interaction between the lake and the inhabitants (thus non-human and human), the author conducted sensory ethnography and conversed with residents affected by the problem. The categories call, care and Stimmung are used to analyze the gathered empi…

Others among Others: Latvians’ View of Members of Ethnographic Shows

2020

Abstract In the second half of the nineteenth century, Latvians, like several other non-dominant nations that were part of large European empires, actively argued for their status as a nation and fought for the right to be equal partners in economy and politics and for the recognition of their culture. The process of constructing an ethnic identity involves not only inclusion, but also the formation of boundaries and exclusion, defining characteristics in the public space that separate the group Us from Others, that is, other members of society as well as complete strangers. Groups offering ethnographic and freak shows stopped by the Russian imperial city of Riga with guest performances, ar…

Challenges in Digital Ethnography

2020

Abstract The article explores ethical challenges in digital media ethnography in the field of militant political Islam, pointing to the dilemma that arises in doing research on Islam as part of the securitised research funding system. Expanding on discussions in anthropology about the principles of “do no harm” and “be open and honest about your work”, the authors reflectively contextualise the interrelated notions of “Jihadism” and “Salafism” and examine how these categories serve as “floating signifiers”. Examining one particular incident from the digital fieldwork leads to discussions of transparency, anonymity and shifting forms of “publicness” in the digital sphere.