Ethnographic Fieldwork Research Articles

Moments of decolonisation in Indian women’s navigations of interpersonal conflict

In India decoloniality in law has been a movement of decolonising the state law. Stepping away from the perception of decolonialising as a legislative project, this paper argues for decoloniality of law to be explored as a thought process, that lies embedded with state-society relations in postcolonial India. Against the canvas of the vividly plural legal landscape, this contribution explores how individuals juxtapose legal institutions and legal orders in different permutations and combinations in pursuit of their ideas of justice and order, unravelling a decoloniality of thought and process that rests within the unique contexts of every conflict. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in the city of Mumbai, women’s experiences with conflict remain at the centre of this paper to help explore the notion of decoloniality in law.

Commoning as Social Struggle

The article provides an empirical insight into urban initiatives that advocate for better urban mobility infrastructures and outlines a theoretical perspective of commoning infrastructures as a terrain for political struggles. Rather than constructing commons as the interplay of methodologically presumed elements (resources, a community of commoners, and their institutions of commoning) it takes a relational perspective on commoning that asks how activists mobilize and relate heterogeneous elements to make urban mobility infrastructures a common political concern. Based on ethnographic fieldwork on mobility activism in Berlin, the second part of the article illustrates such a relational perspective and presents three modes of commoning. To achieve what is called “mobility transition” (i. e. more sustainable and equitable urban mobility infrastructures), activists rely on mobilizations of knowledge, space, and affect.

Boundary-making between mainstream and special education. A posthuman ethnographic investigation of materialities of schooling and Danish teachers’ imaginaries and practices around ‘middle forms’

ABSTRACT This article explores production of divisions and belonging between mainstream and special education needs students in Danish primary education. The article analyses the boundary-making practices produced by teachers and materialities of schooling between mainstream education students and those with mild to moderate special needs whose schooling is divided between the mainstream classroom and special provisions within the walls of the mainstream school. The article is based on ethnographical fieldwork in two Danish public schools with teachers from 4th to 6th grade in mainstream education. Using artefacts such as empty chairs, missing names, and lavatories for specific groups of students, the analysis shows how nonhuman mundane materialities of the school and classroom do performative work in enacting divisions and belonging in mainstream education. Besides the focus on materialities, teachers’ statements on students with special needs offers insights into teachers’ imaginaries and perspectives on their responsibilities (or lack thereof) concerning students with special needs. Despite intentions to enhance opportunities for students with special needs to participate in mainstream classroom activities, this study’s main findings suggest a strong segregation between the two groups and that teachers and materialities are reinforcing and reproducing this segregation through artefacts, (dis)placements, counterproductive imaginaries, and discursive statements.

Social reproduction and contestation of racialized Roma exclusion: The role of civil society organizations in the Czech Republic

ABSTRACT Anti-Roma racism remains a persistent concern in numerous European countries. Despite sustained efforts by both the European Union and national governments over the past two decades to promote Roma inclusion, the effectiveness of these integration policies has largely been perceived as inadequate. This has been evident in the widespread exclusion experienced by Roma communities. Focusing on the Czech Republic, this article moves from examining state policies to the actions of civil society. In this context, the article explores the role played by Czech civil society organizations (CSOs) in both challenging and perpetuating racialized Roma exclusion. Building on Bourdieu’s concept of social habitus, this article expands it to a racialized social habitus framework. Through online interviews with CSOs and ethnographic fieldwork in four Czech cities, it explores the complex interplay between integration policies, civil society, and the racialized exclusion of the Czech Roma. The article illuminates how these organizations simultaneously contest and reinforce racialized perceptions of the Roma, thereby enriching scholarly dialogue on the complex dynamics of race and racism within civil society.

African Studies Keyword: Organic

Abstract The concept of the organic serves as a keyword capturing emerging practices and epistemologies through which Africans navigate increasingly toxic lifeworlds. Noting a growing preoccupation with this term, the authors unpack its meaning based on their ethnographic fieldwork concerning two East African idioms: kienyeji and kiasili. What it means to be(come) organic is tied to older notions such as life flow, tradition, and the natural. Tracing how this concept engages with central themes in Africanist debates, the authors demonstrate that an Africanist theorizing about it foregrounds critical claims about the vitality of bodies and the viability of environments.

Rainwater harvesting technologies in arid plains of Argentina: small local strategies vs. large centralized projects

Access to water has been and remains one of humanity’s greatest challenges. Especially in arid plains exposed to significant climatic fluctuations and future global change trends. In the past and present, local communities of the arid plains of central-western Argentina (i.e., Guanacache Lagoons, Cuyo region) have developed multiple strategies to manage water supply problems. The aims of this study are: i) to characterize the different water harvesting technologies (pre-Hispanic and modern) used, and ii) to compare the small local strategies of water harvesting (bottom-up solutions) with the large centralized projects (top-down solutions). On the one hand, we show the transformations of these technologies over time, and the challenges faced by inhabitants in the context of climate change trends. On the other hand, we analyze the role of the state through hydraulic policies and projects implemented by the provincial states over the last two centuries and how this impacted the study area. This review is based on a historical and archaeological bibliography, and recent publications about the region, including articles based on our ethnographic fieldwork. Our results demonstrate the valuable experience accumulated by local populations in water harvesting methods, particularly in areas where groundwater is deep and saline, and shows the adaptability of these technologies in contexts of increasing scarcity. We considered that local indigenous knowledge can largely contribute to the sustainable management of water resources. This study might be useful for decision-makers and water managers in drylands around the world to find and equitable approach that combines technical advances with local knowledge.

A fitness obligation or indispensable pastime? A capability-informed inquiry into the developmental impacts of tiyu(体育) on college students in multi-ethnic China

ABSTRACT While the developmental impacts of sport have been extensively researched, with significant attention given to sport-based interventional projects common in sport for development and peace (SDP), fewer studies have approached this focus by investigating ordinary sporting opportunities such as physical education and school sports (PESS). Grounded on an 18-month ethnographic fieldwork conducted in a border region of Southwestern China, this qualitative study targets a multi-ethnic college setting to examine the developmental impacts of regular sporting provisions on campus. Underpinned by relativist ontology and constructionist epistemology, qualitative data were collected from multiple sources through participant observation, online survey and in-depth focus group interviews. Drawing on ‘tiyu (体育)’ and the Capabilities Approach (CA) as conceptual and theoretical references, data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis whereby four themes with sub-themes were contextually and reflexively constructed. These themes include: (1) fundamental means and ends: tiyu is an essential functioning of health and education; (2) individual agency enables extra gains: tiyu for interpersonal affiliation, emotions and control over one’s environment; (3) from instrumental to elemental: tiyu is an indispensable capability of play; (4) developmental prospects are conditional: counter-stories of tiyu. By contextualizing tiyu’s impacts on capabilities and human development, we lastly discussed the malleable nature of tiyu (sport) and the prospects of improving ordinary sporting opportunities with explicit development concerns.

Time–space control: explaining subnational variation in Thailand’s guestwork regimes

Abstract How do states control labor migration? Furthering global trends, nation states increasingly seek to include foreigners in labor markets while excluding them from settling. Yet, dominant theories maintain a limited conception of migration control as primarily immigrant restriction, especially in the global North. Thailand offers a paradigmatic case for understanding labor migration control and the dual goal of inclusion–exclusion it entails. While migrants generally face rigid limits on their immigration status, the Thai state shows internal variation in how it manages their inclusion as workers: in some places, authorities more strictly regulate time limits of documents, while in others, they focus on control of boundaries around migrant spatial access. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork in two sites, this article examines this regulatory variation to inform a more general understanding of guestwork control in global context. Comparing two subnational regimes, I show that the state must respond to multiple forces from above and below when controlling labor migration, requiring subnational regulatory differences, and fostering contrasting means of labor reproduction. Findings suggest that differential subnational incorporation into regional and global economies can shape differences in the time–space control of migrant workers and the conditions of noncitizenship that come with it.

Navigating uncertainty and negotiating trust in judicial deliberations

Autonomy and independence are key features of legal decision-making. Yet, decision-making in court is fundamentally interactional and collective, both during the information gathering phase of hearings, and in evaluations during deliberations. Depending on legal system and type of court, deliberations can include different constellations of lay judges, jurors, or judge panels. In this article, we explore the collective dynamic of knowledge acquisition in legal decision-making, by analysing their emotional undercurrents. We show how judges balance uncertainty and certainty in legal deliberation, elaborating on (1) trust; (2) uncertainty exchange, and; (3) certainty as an agile emotion. Theoretically, the article combines an emotive-cognitive judicial framework, which understands emotion and reason as intersecting and continuous, with social interactionist theory. The analysis builds on extensive ethnographic fieldwork in Sweden, including shadowing and interviews with judges as well as observations during court proceedings and deliberations. The article actualizes the joint accomplishment of legal independence, and contributes with a nuanced account of how the decision-making process unfolds in legal deliberations.

From tourists to (im)migrants: intimacy mobility chains between Europe and Brazil

The construction of intimacy quite often implies fluxes and mobilities. Building upon this premise, the article delves into the chains of dislocations associated with the transnationalisation of intimacy led by European men and Brazilian women who find themselves in the tourism meeting ground of Ponta Negra (Natal-RN, Northeast Brazil). The primary aim presupposes an understanding of transatlantic configurations of mobility and intimacy that emerge in passionate Euro-Brazilian relationships, while adopting a critical stance towards the notions of ‘sex tourism’ and ‘marriage migrations’, conceptual constructions which are common in the social sciences, yet profoundly reductive and with little empirical support. This analysis draws on elements provided by a multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, encompassing various physical and digital research sites. The gathered data allowed the comprehension of the pluricausality, interconnectedness, and plasticity of Euro-Brazilian mobilities, alongside their intrinsic association with polymorphic transnational configurations of intimacy, in the framework of which relations with different places are (re)defined and flexible links of conjugality, family, residence and citizenship are generated.

“All by Myself”: Navigating the Lonely Odyssey of Ethnographic Fieldwork in the Business and Society Domain

Conducting ethnographies in the business and society (BAS) domain is often a lonely odyssey for early-career researchers (ECRs), whose emotional struggles are frequently concealed behind celebrated research outcomes. I highlight the emotional stress during their research and call for solutions beyond their personal responsibility. I offer five suggestions to combat negative emotions and help ECRs navigate these challenges through collaborative efforts and systemic changes.

The power of materiality: Local orders, interaction and global governance

The article examines the power of materiality in the context of refugee camps, demonstrating how local orders and global governance are intricately interwoven within the material domain. It draws on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Burmese refugee camps in Thailand to illustrate how sociomateriality can establish spaces of exclusion and associated memberships through their practical implementation, but at the same time permit flexible forms of local manifestations. These aspects represent the tangible realities that people, both ordinary camp residents and local authorities, navigate and achieve in their local public camp life. By means of detailed observation of three distinct camp situations—namely, interactions of membership, checkpoint practices, and the temporary suspension of public camp life—the article argues that mundane sociomaterial practices can both produce and undermine the political intentions of architects to realize materialities of exclusion. Nevertheless, despite their partial and incomplete nature and the capacity of people to circumvent them, the materiality of exclusion is maintained and persists. By elucidating these dynamics, the article contributes to the existing literature that emphasizes the importance of understanding camp governance through the lens of sociomateriality.

Drivers of masculinity: Marginality, manhood, and mobilities during a pandemic

AbstractIn this paper, I consider how the COVID‐19 pandemic shaped the gendered self‐understandings of cabdrivers in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. Extending research on the pandemic's effect on economically and socially marginalised groups such as app‐based cabdrivers and by taking into account masculinity as a framework of analysis, in this paper, I ask: how does a crisis like the pandemic impact self‐understandings of men cabdrivers? How does the intensification of precarity during a global crisis affect the way men understand themselves as gendered selves? Based on ethnographic fieldwork collected both before the pandemic and during, I trace two emergent patterns which I briefly explore in this paper. First, I show how and why the ‘breadwinner’ trope (and the attendant ideologies of protection and provision) was largely reinforced but also, sometimes, challenged during the pandemic. I then move the analytical gaze outside the space of the home to examine how care structures interrelatedness among cabdrivers as a community in the register of brotherhood. Ultimately, I argue that adopting a gendered lens on the pandemic offers an analytical flashpoint in identifying when and why ideologies of manhood, particularly among subaltern men, intersect with broader socio‐economic forces in shaping individual experiences and narratives.

Development and Indigenous Ecopolitics in Post-Peace Guatemala

How do Indigenous and peasant political paradigms interact? This essay examines the relationship between Indigenous-ontopolitical critiques of development and peasant-oriented demands for alternative development in the Guatemalan defense of territory (DT), an Indigenous-led alliance against extractive development. Drawing on politically-engaged ethnographic and historical fieldwork, I argue that theories that counterpose indigenous ecological values of reciprocity and human-nature relationality to “development” oversimplify Indigenous responses to the multi-dimensional nature of colonization. I describe how Indigenous cosmological critiques coexist with demands for food sovereignty, agrarian struggles, integral development, and even progressive (redistributive) extraction in territorial defense movements. I suggest that the ascendance of post-development critiques in the DT crowds out heterogeneous demands for anticolonial development, limiting the movement’s potential to present a compelling alternative for marginalized communities. I point to a convergence between some kinds of Indigenous ontopolitics and counterinsurgency efforts to repress radical developmentalism and propose holding critiques of and demands for development in creative tension to strengthen counterhegemonic struggles.

Geschierian magic: Belonging beyond autochthony. A special issue in honour of Peter Geschiere

This article traces the intellectual trajectory of the anthropologist and Africanist Peter Geschiere, which is deeply informed by a commitment to meticulous and long-term ethnographic fieldwork that prioritizes local ways of being and subjectivities. The article highlights some of the significant contributions Geschiere made to the fields of Anthropology and African Studies, including his insights into the politics and perils of belonging which he studied in relation to the rise of politics of autochthony in both the Netherlands and in Cameroon as well as his sustained intellectual attention to what can be called the occult or the hidden dimensions of kinship and witchcraft. The article opens a special issue honouring of the work of Peter Geschiere.

Brilla boy!: Educated masculinity, hope and future-making in a Ghanaian senior high school

ABSTRACT This paper examines the significance of Ghana’s National Science and Maths Quiz (the NSMQ) drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a secondary school in Ghana (known as Brilliant Academy) conducted between 2021–2022. Using the concepts of hope and aspiration this paper seeks to explore how the NSMQ serves as a vehicle for hope. It begins with a historical lens, examining how the pedagogical practices laid down by missionaries now in place at Brilliant Academy serve to cultivate the type of educated person promoted by the quiz show, that of the ‘brilla boy’. This figure is widely respected within the school and as such students eagerly aspire to take part in the quiz. I also suggest that the celebration of maths and science in the quiz makes the NSMQ bridge together ‘old’ and ‘new’ hopes attached to education, and science and maths in particular, evident in Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for postcolonial Ghana.

The anatomy of clinical decision-making: aligning AI design with ICU routines

PurposeIn the face of numerous explanations for why AI-driven decision support systems (DSS) have failed to deliver on their promise of improving organizational decision-making, this paper problematizes the under-theorized mismatch between the design of DSS and the actual decision-making processes that the technology is supposed to support. We examine this mismatch by studying the implementation of a DSS in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a large academic hospital.Design/methodology/approachBased on 27 months of ethnographic fieldwork, we contend that the studied DSS was designed on the assumption that individual intensivists are responsible for making life-critical discharge decisions at one particular moment in time.FindingsHowever, our study of actual decision-making practices reveals that discharge decision-making is instead a protracted process, involving multiple actors fragmented across time and space. To account for these complexities, we advocate for a “dynamic routines” perspective, which highlights the actual patterns of action pursued throughout a clinical decision-making process.Originality/valueOur application of this perspective contributes to a more granular understanding of discharge decision-making, which can help future DSS designers better grasp the peculiarities and complexities—or “anatomy”—of the decision-making process. We also suggest integrating an “anticipatory ethnographic approach” into the design and pre-implementation phases of future DSS to help bridge the current gap between design assumptions and actual decision-making practices.

Militarized policing in the hinterlands: A Blackwater training ground and the cultural conceptions of security

AbstractResearch in recent decades shows that private military and security contractors have reshaped the tenor and reach of US military power abroad while also accelerating the militarization of domestic policing. Previous work on militarized policing has primarily centered on urban environments. This article examines Blackwater North, a facility in a rural Illinois community, which provided privatized, militarized police training from 2007 through 2010. Drawing from newspaper accounts, government records, and ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the community after the facility's closure, I analyze residents’ recollections of the local support of and opposition to Blackwater North. I argue that local supporters promoted a culture of perpetual preparedness that positioned militarized policing as a rational form of harm reduction, as well as one that could yield economic benefits to struggling host communities. I also examine the opposition and analyze the insider/outsider divides that emerged within the debate surrounding Blackwater North. At stake for both supporters and opponents were differing cultural conceptions of what increases, and what erodes, security. This case study focuses on rural spaces’ role in the landscape of militarized policing and illuminates the cultural processes by which privatized military power and militarized policing become accepted and resisted at the community level.

From Empty Parking Lots to Border Fences: A Visual and Sensory Ethnography of the Finnish–Russian Borderscapes in ‘Times of Stress’

ABSTRACT This article studies everyday bordering processes at the Finnish – Russian border during ‘times of stress’, specifically, following the COVID-19 pandemic and the onset of the war in Ukraine. The research is grounded in ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the summer and autumn of 2022 in four border cities (Imatra and Lappeenranta in Finland, and Svetogorsk and Vyborg in Russia). The study centres on visual and sensory observations made during the fieldwork, as well as discussions taking place in local newspapers and their social media channels. The Finnish – Russian borderland is approached as a ‘borderscape’ – a site where borders are constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed in everyday life by heterogeneous agents. The research illustrates that the political context shaped the Finnish – Russian borderscapes concerning the material border landscape, people’s experiences and imaginations. The study argues that visual and sensory ethnography can add deeper and more nuanced layers to the understanding of borderscapes as well as provide alternative ways of conveying research findings.

Resistance to Oppression in Informal Work

Abstract This article takes the study of informal work and resistance to oppression in a new direction. The literature assumes that subaltern resistance is either collective, open, and occasional; or individual, covert, and habitual. The author argues that the reality is a complex mix of these responses, shaped by social power structures and legal frameworks. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with paid domestic workers in Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, the author demonstrates that worker resistance is principally individual and multifaceted, including overt and covert, as well as habitual and occasional strategies. In all cases, entrenched racist and patriarchal structures and behaviors as well as the making and implementing of labor law shape social understandings of the nature of remunerated domestic labor and choices of resistance strategies. In this context, collective rights claiming remains challenging.