Ethnographic Fieldwork Research Articles

Exploring the Anthropological Dynamics of Tuberculosis Transmission

TB is truly one of the major public health concerns, with transmission dynamics being quite complex and very much influenced by anthropological factors. Specifically, in this research paper, the researcher investigates the social and cultural backgrounds that shape TB transmission by exploring how human behavior, cultural beliefs, and socioeconomic factors interconnect to preserve the spread of the TB disease. In the depth of available literature review and ethnographic fieldwork, this study exposes complex anthropological dynamics that sustain the transmission of TB, showing how social and cultural factors call for a more nuanced understanding. Focal group discussions were how the researcher used to work. Among the main findings brought out by the researcher include the cultural beliefs and practices that influence health-seeking behavior and socioeconomic factors. The research shows that anthropological insight is indispensable in the development of effective, culturally sensitive interventions in the struggle against tuberculosis.

The matter of home: repurposed churches, heritage and belonging in Amsterdam

ABSTRACT In this paper I look at the widespread, and often much debated, abandonment and reuse of church buildings in the Netherlands. I focus on the striking case of the Roman Catholic Chassé Church that, after years of being left abandoned, was converted into the Chassé Dance Studios and Hotel. Based on ethnographic fieldwork at the site, I show that the transformation process of the Chassé Church took place within a field of contestation in which different groups involved, articulated distinct modes of understanding the site and attributing it with value. I argue that these registers of valuation all centre in important ways on notions of home. Consequentially, while the repurposing of the church building represents the loss of a home for some, it has been co-opted as an instrument of home-building by others. For the latter, the site has played an important role in their quests for local belonging, feeling at home in the neighbourhood and, to some extent, delineating a national culture. By tracing such emotions of not only attachment and belonging, but also loss and nostalgia, this paper calls attention to the everyday affective dimension of processes of religious heritage making.

Infrastructuring ethical use of surveillance technology in dementia care

ABSTRACT While surveillance technology, such as GPS and motion sensors, is increasingly used in dementia care to heighten safety, it also poses new risks and ethical concerns. This paper explores the development of ethical practices around technology and presents a case study of infrastructuring the ethical use of surveillance technology in dementia care. Our ethnographic fieldwork at a Danish nursing home identified surveillance practices based on continuous tinkering and distributed negotiations to manage risks. However, new legislation and subsequent increased use of surveillance technology challenged care workers’ tinkering, resulting in both false, redundant, and failing alarms. The misleading alarms potentially jeopardise the safety of residents and result in a breakdown of the ethical commitment of care workers to care for residents. Drawing on the notion of infrastructuring, we demonstrate how new ethical surveillance practices were developed through a codesign process. The codesign process creates an organisational framework and space for reflection, which supports care workers in creative tinkering and safe implementation of large-scale strategies in a local context. Through our case, we argue for the need to more broadly address the infrastructuring of ethics and suggest that codesign lends itself as a promising approach to this endeavour.

Maintaining the good store: lessons about caring practices from Swedish 100-year-old retail stores

ABSTRACT This article is about small-scale independent single-store retailers that have been in business since the first half of the 20th century – an overlooked group of actors in retail research. Research has mapped the broader structural changes in the retail industry that have benefitted large-scale operations during the last decade. Still, there is an absence of explanations for the continuous existence of small-scale retail businesses with product lines competing with large-scale actors. Retail research tends to take economic profitability and growth as starting points to interrogate the capacity of businesses to successfully compete. Against this background, the longevity of inner-city small-scale independent stores dating back to the early 20th century remains a puzzle, which calls for looking towards alternative theories to find reasons for the persistence of this line of retail. We engage with this puzzle by exploring practices of valuation engaged by store owners in a selection of small-scale, independent stores established in Gothenburg and Stockholm (Sweden) before the 1950s. We draw on understandings of values as produced through social practices and inquire how forms of caring practices figure in the day-to-day maintenance of the stores as means through which they produce value. The article builds on ethnographic fieldwork focusing on in-store interviews with store owners, employees, and customers complemented with observations. We find that care figures in these stores as expressions of attention and presence, of maintenance and of tacit knowledge, and suggest that the retailers’ focus on the caring practices identified – rather than on prioritizing growth – is key to their continued, long-term existence. Anchored in an understanding of retail as situated in broader social and political processes, and as such also impacting society at large, we moreover emphasise the importance of attentiveness and valuation of, the caring practices that small-scale store owners engage in.

THE NARRATIVE OF RICE ORIGIN IN THE CREATION EPICS: EVOLUTION OF RICE ORIGIN NARRATIVES UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THERAVADA BUDDHISM

The introduction of Theravada Buddhism has influenced the original narratives of rice origins among ethnic groups such as the Dai, De'ang, and Bulang. There are rich rice origin narratives in the creation epics from the three ethnic groups. This article aims to explore how the incoming Buddhism has enabled three distinct ethnic groups with different languages, cultures, and historical backgrounds to share some similar narratives of rice origin. Taking the ethnographic fieldwork methods, involving participant observation and individual interviews with villagers, to collect and compare both oral and written narratives for analysis, the findings reveal that they share some familiar primarily manifested in three aspects: firstly, these ethnic groups share commonalities in their rice origin narratives, incorporating numerous elements of Buddhism. Buddhism has adapted these narratives by substituting vocabulary and transforming concepts to infuse them with strong Buddhist elements. Secondly, a new type of narrative appeared, where the rice god contends with Buddha and ultimately departs to the Dark World and then be brought back by Buddha. The theme of rice god versus Buddha mirrors the historical struggle between two faiths. Meanwhile, the theme of rice god’s departure to the Dark World and return fundamentally serves as a metaphor for seed germination and growth in the soil, representing a concession made by Buddhism to the worship of the indigenous beliefs. Thirdly, Buddhism actively participates in and promotes rice cultivation, such as monks reciting the Bu Huanghao to request blessings for crop growth, and performing rituals like washing Buddha pagodas to pray for rain. In conclusion, the introduction of Buddhism has significantly influenced local rice narratives, reflecting the conflicts and eventual reconciliation between the rice god and Buddha, as well as the struggle and compromise between traditional beliefs and incoming Buddhism.

Hiding in plain sight: Black women speak on racist patriarchy and Black patriarchy in unmarked and marked spaces on campus

Black undergraduate women who attend a HPWI are impacted by racist patriarchy and Black patriarchy. To examine patriarchies across campus, I explored unmarked spaces on campus which are generic, white spaces; and racially marked spaces, such as the Black Student Center. To better understand how racist patriarchy and Black patriarchy shape Black women’s college experiences, I utilized qualitative methods and an ethnography to center their experiences of discrimination and marginalization. Using a critical race feminism framework, I interviewed 25 Black undergraduate women who attended a state-flagship university in the Mid-Southern region of the US and conducted ethnographic fieldwork on campus. The findings show that Black women experienced overt racial hostility from white males in unmarked spaces on campus, while also experiencing objectification and social subordination from Black men in marked spaces. My findings demonstrate that HPWI’s are patriarchal structures that create gendered racial violence against Black women.

Some Local Survival Strategies to Cope with Flood: Examples from Bhakat Chapori, Majuli, Assam

The understanding of local coping and survival strategies are very important to know about how a community deals with hazardous condition. Each community builds own local survival strategies to overcome the vulnerability of familiar disastrous events. Histories have shown that ‘Majuli the largest riverine Island of the world has been experiencing the effects of flood since past. The mainland of Majuli Island is surrounded by several small islets or chapories and the studied area “Bhakat Chapori” is one of them. Local people of this chapori have been living with flood since long and now flood became a part of their life and culture. The present study includes how local or indigenous knowledge system of the villages of Bhakat chapori can help them to manage mild effects of flood as per their own survival strategies. The paper is an outcome of ongoing doctoral research work, purely based on ethnographic fieldwork. Here an attempt has made to document and understand the local survival or coping strategies of a small island during flood events. Some strategies are so effective that those can be applied other parts of the country or world for the better survival of the people.

Stories of Justification – Stories of Absolution: How Families in Liberec Came to Terms with Post-Displacement Heritage

The article focuses on how residents of the north Bohemian town of Liberec deal in their family histories with possession of post-displacement. The objects they use were confiscated from the German-speaking minority in the aftermath of World War 2. The text provides an overview of narratives of this event in the Czech public discourse and discusses how these are reflected in family stories. The study is based on three family histories collected during ethnographic fieldwork and the analytical framework is informed by memory studies and theories of hauntology.

Dressing up the place: Urban lifestyle mobilities and the production of “fashionable” tourism destinations in rural Japan

The past three decades of neoliberal structural reforms in Japan has established tourism policy favoring privatization, deregulation, and flexible mobility of capital to encourage decentralized markets. Within this system, attracting skilled urban migrants to rural regions has emerged as a central component of planning and development. Drawing on Kawamura's theory of fashion-ology, this study details the process of how rural tourism destinations are produced and (re)fashioned by urban-to-rural lifestyle migrants who bring new practices, aesthetics, and meanings to place. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2021/2022 in the rural coastal town of Aoshima, we outline the co-constitutive dynamic between “star migrants”, industry “gatekeepers”, and “consumers as producers” in the production and consumption of “fashionable” rural destinations. The article contributes to literature on how rural tourism destinations are governed in contemporary neoliberal societies and provides insights into the unequal urban-to-rural power relations that continue to define Japan's regional revitalization programs.

Historical Narratives and Spatial Strategies of Reappropriation in Three Romanian Orthodox Monasteries

Contrary to the abundance of shared religious places throughout south-eastern Europe, multi-religious interaction is not a regular feature in Romania. Pilgrimages and visits to the popular Orthodox monasteries of Prislop and Nicula in Transylvania and Dervent in Dobruja are an exception to this trend. Unsurprisingly, these two regions are historically characterized by a remarkable ethnic and religious diversity. The two Transylvanian monasteries attract practitioners of different Christian denominations (Orthodox, Greek-Catholic, Roman-Catholic and Evangelical), while Dervent is a devotional site for Christians and Muslims (Tatars, Turks and Roma) alike. Common to all three monasteries is the presence of allegedly miracle-working objects, artefacts and bodies: a stone cross at Dervent, the Virgin Mary icon at Nicula, and the tomb of the charismatic monk Arsenie Boca at Prislop, respectively. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in the three monasteries during both important feasts and everyday monastic life, this article is a multidisciplinary exploration of the workings of inter-religious competition, sharing and interaction. It combines the methods typical of ethnographic research with observations on how the religious space is navigated and socialized through the support of cartography and archival satellite images. The article casts light on how the historical narratives and spatial strategies enacted by the Romanian Orthodox Church overlap in the attempt to reclaim legitimate ownership and exclusive primacy over three popular devotional sites with a composite ethnic and religious past.

When Trust Coexists with Mistrust: An Ethnographic Account of the Consequences of Digitalization Project

ABSTRACT Recently, local governments utilize digital technology to improve transparency and achieve public trust. Drawing from the e-retribusi project, a digitalization enabling small-scale merchants to pay their levies in a cashless manner, this study investigates how the digitalization project shapes trust (and mistrust) between actors. My ethnographic fieldwork in Kebon Polo traditional market, Magelang City, Indonesia, reveals dual trust-building realities. Civil servants and auditors perceived greater trust, while small-scale merchants encountered diminished trust. This finding suggests the importance of transparency for all actors and critically reflects the exaggerated expectation of digitalization in enhancing transparency and public trust.

The Evolution of Dong Small Songs and Cultural Change in Chinese Folk Music

This study investigates the cultural evolution and contemporary significance of Dong's small songs within the realm of Chinese folk music. Through ethnographic fieldwork, interviews, archival research, and thematic analysis, the historical roots and socio-cultural dynamics of Dong's small songs are explored. The literature review delves into the cultural significance, historical evolution, preservation efforts, and challenges faced by Dong small songs, highlighting their role in reflecting regional identities and cultural change. The material and methods section outlines the qualitative research approach, including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and archival data collection. The research results illuminate the multifaceted nature of Dong small songs, showcasing their adaptability, transmission processes, and contemporary expressions. Suggestions for future research emphasize the need for continued preservation efforts, innovative presentation platforms, and collaborative initiatives to ensure the sustainability and appreciation of Dong's small songs in the context of evolving cultural landscapes.

Historicizing the carbon forest: colonial residue, scientific forestry and the making of ‘Nigeria’s last rainforest’

ABSTRACT The novelty claims in carbon forestry often obscure the complex histories and the colonial entanglements of carbon forest socioecologies. This paper argues that the conditions of possibility of carbon forestry in ‘Nigeria’s last rainforest’ are tightly linked to the uneven colonial production of forests across Southern Nigeria. Drawing on archival research, ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of program documents and academic literature, the paper unsettles claims of novelty in Nigeria’s carbon forestry by demonstrating the material continuity between colonial forestry and carbon forestry. Focusing on the development of colonial forestry in Southern Nigeria under British colonial rule, the paper traces the coloniality of scientific forestry as a form of environmental rule, and its entanglements with imperial capitalism and presumptions of racial hierarchy. If the success of scientific forestry in Southern Nigeria meant the draining of Nigeria’s forests as timber export, its failure in Cross River paradoxically produced ‘Nigeria’s last rainforest,’ a literal ‘colonial residue’ . In colonial forestry, as in contemporary carbon forestry, a reductionist knowledge of forests, capitalist interests and a racialized global division of labor all interact in consequential ways. The paper concludes that decolonizing Nigeria’s forestry is a precondition for saving its ‘last rainforest.’

‘What’s he writing in there?’ Reciprocal field relations and relational curiosity in ethnographies of education

ABSTRACT The notion of the ethnographer as participant observer, as an active agent rather than passive observer, is well established within conversations about method and methodology. Less well explored is the extent to which the inherent curiosity and inquisitiveness of the ethnographer might be reciprocated: how might this be established and how might it contribute to the construction of knowledge? Through a focus on the ways in which one of the most visible aspects of ethnographic field work – writing field notes – was made sense of and then interrogated by research respondents during an eight-month ethnography of workplace learning, this article argues that reciprocal field relations characterised by a willingness for the researcher to be interrogated about their work in a manner akin to the ways in which the researched are, here described as relational curiosity, both sustains good ethical engagement in the field and enhances the empirical warrant of the ethnography.

On a wing and a prayer: professional ethics and the prison library

PurposeIn response to instrumental cultural policy agendas in the United Kingdom, the paper explores the practice of collaborative cultural work in the criminal justice system through the lens of professional ethics in prison libraries. It seeks to balance narratives on the value of arts and culture in cross-government policy agendas with a nuanced consideration of the realities of such work in non-conventional organisational settings.Design/methodology/approach“Instrumental Values: Professional ethics in collaborative cultural work” was a two-year empirical study (2017–2019), including ethnographic fieldwork in three case study sites representing prison library services in England. Following a “communities of practice” conceptual framework, research methods included participant observation of day-to-day cultural work and specific events; successive research interviews with library and prison service staff and volunteers; and interviews with key collaborating organisations from extended professional networks.FindingsData from three prison library case studies show consistent ethical implications relating to the extent of collaborative complexity in the field and its impact on participants’ emotional resilience; navigation of the prison regime by cultural workers; consequences for emotional labour and care in the field; and the re-negotiation of ethical boundaries and practices.Originality/valueThe research makes an original contribution to debates on the instrumental value of arts and culture via its intimate focus on prison libraries as microcosms of situated, truly integrated cultural work, both from a physical, organisational perspective and in their representation of a cross-policy function for arts and culture.

Navigating Ruling Relations in Institutional Ethnographic Fieldwork

Based on year-long fieldwork on activist-educators’ work in South Korea, I reflect on how my research complicates the ontological shift in institutional ethnography: that is, the shift that emphasizes how ruling relations are coordinated through the very actions of people. I discuss two facets of reflective pauses. First, I discuss how the ruling relations of research practice in South Korea render the ontological shift “slippery.” I argue for a need to understand the ontological shift in relation to external contexts of research instead of an individualized approach. Second, I detail the process of a comparative research design looking at activist-educators with differing levels of engagement with the Korean state. I highlight how a transitional void that emerged after democratization prompted different activist strategies. I call for a need to reconsider the connection between activists’ work and institutional ethnography, where investigating activists’ work provides a lens into the ruling relations.

Negotiating standards in Sino-Mongolian industrial relations

Anthropologists have used ‘standards’ to critique Western hegemony through the centre–periphery extractive paradigm or the top–down imposition of developmental agendas. This article suggests an alternative possibility by considering the agency of local actors through their experience and evocation of standards in industrial workplaces. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork at two Chinese-owned extractive enterprises and a public vocational school in the east of Mongolia, I recast standards as a conduit for local practitioners to express genuine aspirations for improvement. Here, standards embody the ideal more than the average or the bottom line. Chinese enterprises in Mongolia are assessed against local perceptions of the global hierarchy of standards, which is not only underpinned by technical competence but also influenced by socioeconomic, moral, and geopolitical considerations. This article presents emic and etic perspectives on Chinese enterprises in Mongolia, contributing three ethnographic case studies to the discussion about the contested ascent of China as a global standards-maker and standards-shaker. It highlights the distinctive geopolitical situation of Mongolia and suggests broader implications for uneven development in the world economy.

South-South Investments: Driver for Alternative Globalization? Examining China-Led Special Economic Zones in Brazil and South Africa

The formation of BRICS marks a significant aspect of 21st-century globalization. This has spurred optimism in the Global South about offering an alternative to Western dominance. China has aimed to expand its global presence and influence, framing its relations as ‘South-South Cooperation’. Brazil and South Africa are crucial partners within BRICS, receiving significant Chinese investment, loans, and assistance. In this article, we critically examine South-South investments through a comparative analysis of Chinese investments in South Africa and Brazil, focusing on the case studies of the Manaus Industrial Park and the Musina-Makhado Special Economic Zone. Our research employs ethnographic fieldwork and secondary sources to analyze Chinese investments and their socio-environmental impact. We begin with a discussion of globalization and current trends of deglobalization by proposing three dimensions to analyze the role of BRICS. While Chinese investment could offer an alternative to Western financing, a more balanced South-South agenda is needed. Both Brazilian and South African state and non-state actors must advocate for better conditions to avoid repeating patterns of resource exploitation and subordination. This shifts the debate beyond traditional dichotomies. Ultimately, embracing South-South FDI and Cooperation must be accompanied by critical analysis to ensure a truly transformative agenda for the Global South.

Long-term holistic ethnography for new digital worlds

The article contributes to ongoing conversations on digital ethnography as a methodological approach that in the last two decades has gained popularity across a large variety of disciplines and fields. It argues that the principles that lie at the heart of long-term holistic ethnographic fieldwork are of crucial importance for studying new digital worlds, especially communicative practices in private and semi-private digital spaces. It also claims that methodological innovations in the ethnographic study of new digital media are not necessarily beneficial to scientific knowledge production. Finally, the article invites anthropologists to contaminate the interdisciplinary field of digital ethnography with their commitment to long-term holistic fieldwork.

The Perception of the “Migrant Threat” in Croatian Gorski Kotar by the Locals and Migrants through the Prism of Visibility and Invisibility

Focused on the aftermath of the so-called migrant crisis of 2014 in the Croatian region of Gorski Kotar, this paper presents an analysis of the processes involved in constructing the idea of the “migrant threat” both among the locals whose settlements, towns and villages lie on the path of the people on the move, as well as among the migrants themselves traversing that area. More specifically, we analyze juxtaposed perceptions of threat. For the locals, the threat seems to stem from the visibility of migrants (their presence in a sparsely populated region) layered with the perception of their own invisibility as a result of economic and infrastructural disregard by the state, as well as of the lack of greater military activities at the border. For the migrants, the threat comes from the possibly highly dangerous visibility enforced by different kinds of surveillance technologies, making them vulnerable to documented strategies of expulsion. The paper employs ethnographic fieldwork and a visual analysis of migrant self-representation online to underline the importance of studying migration from an integrated point of view which includes both local and migrant visual and narrative articulation of the same (border) space between the Schengen area and “the other space”. Based on interviews, a review of the socio-political, economic, and cultural aspects of migration today, and a visual analysis of migrant self-representation practices, we show that different spheres of migration (in)visibility cannot be separated.