Ethnography of environmental governance: Towards an organizational approach

Abstract

This article identifies three methodological approaches for ethnography of environmental governance: place-based ethnography, institutional ethnography, and organizational ethnography. These approaches are ideal types distinguished by how they define the ‘field’ where the ethnographer works. Place-based ethnography is well-established methodologically, but institutional and organizational ethnography are frequently conflated, and methodological guidance for ethnography of environmental organizations is scant. Organizational ethnography makes vital contributions to environmental governance scholarship, however, by revealing internal logics and everyday rationalities of powerful environmental actors and processes. The article therefore expands on the methodological foundations for organizational ethnography of environmental governance, using ethnographic research on the tropical forest conservation programs of an international environmental organization to illustrate research practicalities and substantive contributions of an organizational approach.