“Positioning” Analysis With Autoethnography—Epistemic Explorations of Self-Reflexivity: Introduction to the Special Issue

Abstract

(Auto)ethnographic positioning analysis is a new approach that mobilizes the demarcation between evocative and analytic autoethnography and combines the strengths of both with positioning theory. It is considered a suitable methodology for addressing the ongoing crisis of ethnography, understood as a continuing expression of the moral explosiveness of ethnographic relations in a socially divided and connected world. This introduction outlines the special issue’s line of argument and justifies its goal and contribution to the persisting crisis of ethnography. The individual contributions are presented, focusing on how each study “positions” analysis autoethnographically and what this indicates about the respective research fields.