The road from Teamsterville: Locating alternate approaches to the ethnography of communication

Abstract

ABSTRACT In this essay, we offer three interrelated continua that together constitute a heuristic framework for locating metatheoretical approaches to the ethnography of communication (EC). The first continuum locates a range of epistemological approaches for EC research, from post-positive to interpretive to critical. Building on these epistemic commitments, the second continuum locates varying approaches to conceptualizing power relations in ethnographic contexts. The third continuum, also related to but not parallel with the other two, locates differing ethical approaches for ethnographers of communication. Taken together, these three continua reveal the values instantiated in a range of approaches to EC research. Given the diversity of approaches available in the field, we argue not for the primacy of one over another, but for mutual recognition of, and mutually productive cross-conversation on, the strengths and challenges of the respective views.