Ethnographic Research Articles

Informal historical learning at home: on historical culture and everyday historical thinking of children

This article presents several insights from an ethnographic study that explores the private lives of 39 children aged between 7 and 12 in Austria. It examines the forms of historical culture present in their home environments, how these objects are engaged with by the children, and how such interactions influence their conceptualisations of the past and history. The data for this study were collected between 2017 and 2020. Unlike the laboratory-style tests frequently employed in empirical research conducted in schools, the methodology adopted here seeks to provide deeper insights into the cognitive habits and social practices related to engaging with the past and history by slowing down the research pace and meeting children in their home environments. The study particularly emphasises the everyday historical thinking, a distinct mode of thought that fundamentally differs from academic historical thinking.

Knock before you enter: reconceptualizing retention through a women educators of color, fugitive professional development

ABSTRACT Women Educators of Color (WEOC) are disproportionately underrepresented in the U.S. teacher workforce and have a higher turnover rate than their White counterparts. The shortage of teachers of color (TOC) and WEOC, in particular, in public schools raises questions about the efficacy of districts’ professional development retention efforts. This critical ethnographic study investigated, from the unique perspectives of women of color (WOC), the experiences of WEOC in a professional development leadership and retention program. Study findings revealed that WEOC: 1) believed in the permanence of gendered racism, 2) needed a raced, gendered, and safe fugitive space, 3) valued the program’s intergenerational mentoring and social networking, and 4) visioned retention as freedom to dream – to be whoever they chose to be inside or outside of education. In closing, recommendations are offered for school districts interested in implementing professional developments for the purpose of retaining WEOC.

Recycling or reusing? An ethnographic study of the demolition industry in Northern Italy

ABSTRACT In the transition towards circular cities, material separation and waste prevention in construction are listed as crucial measures. I investigate contemporary demolition practices in Lombardy, Northern Italy, through participant observation at demolition sites, focusing on the industry’s modus operandi regarding material disposal or circulation. Recycling seems to be the most established practice in the field, while reuse remains marginal, typically limited to cases required by historic conservation laws. Uncertainties arise in everyday practices of reuse when addressing issues such as cost, time, logistics, and adherence to energy or safety standards, highlighting context-specific issues and preferences in decision-making regarding sustainable practices.

Impacts of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation on Indigenous People in Bangladesh: An Ethnographic Study

Impacts of Climate Change and Environmental Degradation on Indigenous People in Bangladesh: An Ethnographic Study

“I Don’t Feel Any Oppressed At All”: African American Sunni Women In Detroit

This article presents an ethnographic case study of Sunni women at The Muslim Center in Detroit, Michigan, regardless of any previous affiliation with the Nation of Islam (NOI). African American Muslim women, both those in the NOI and those outside it, navigate an intersectional space where their race, culture, and identity intersect with their faith. Often converts, these women have chosen a religion that resembles the Victorian framework of the Cult of Domesticity. Similar to how the Cult of Domesticity was created to give women an equally important yet complementary role during America’s early years, the tenets of piety, purity, submission, domesticity, and, for Black women, racial uplift define the identity of Black Sunni women. Rather than seeing these ideals as oppressive, Black Muslim women embrace them, actively embodying their faith, cultural identity, and lived experiences, providing them a voice and status within their families and communities. It is easy to view Victorian gender ideals as oppressive and limiting from a modern perspective. However, these ideals aimed to recognize and crystallize women’s significant impact on their families and communities. Without their piety, purity, domesticity, submissiveness, and dedication to racial uplift, the sweeping social movements that have fundamentally changed the nation might not have occurred. Women used the power given to them under the Cult of Domesticity to occupy two seemingly incongruous spaces: private, submissive nurturers and public, assertive leaders for change. Similarly, African American Sunni women harness the power of Islam to do the same.

Negotiating healthy food retail initiatives in the research project Healthier Choices in Supermarkets: an ethnographic study of a partnership between health intervention researchers, food retailers, and public health advocates

BackgroundPartnerships between researchers and food retailers are advocated as necessary for developing sustainable and effective health-promotion initiatives in supermarkets. However, little is known about how such partnerships evolve and influence different phases of intervention research. This study explores how partnerships between researchers and food retailers develop during the pre-intervention phase and examines the factors that influence both the partnerships and the initiatives they produce.MethodsThe empirical case used in the study is a partnership between intervention researchers, food retailers, and public health advocates that aimed to develop and test healthy food retail initiatives to make healthy food choices easy for customers. We conducted an ethnographic study covering the pre-intervention phase from the establishment of the partnership in 2019 to the feasibility test of the initiatives in 2021. We used participant observation of meetings and intervention development activities, qualitative interviews with partners, and document analysis of email correspondence and project materials. We analysed the data abductively, drawing on a narrative analytical approach and theoretical concepts of institutional logics and negotiation.FindingsWe present a narrative in six chapters illustrating how market logic dominated the selection and development of healthy food retail initiatives, ultimately compromising the researchers’ original research interests. Furthermore, the pre-intervention phase was challenged by an unclear division of roles and responsibilities, misaligned expectations, high staff turnover in the retail organisation, and the Covid-19 pandemic. These challenges resulted in growing mistrust and an asymmetric partnership that undermined the progress and potential of the project.ConclusionsUsing the lens of institutional logics, we show how differing interests and perspectives between partners – for example regarding health and consumer behaviour – can make it difficult to realize the original research ideas and build a trusting relationship. Overall, this study illustrates the complexity of research partnerships with commercial actors such as food retailers. To develop and implement effective health-promotion initiatives in a food retail setting, researchers must stay mindful of their initial research interest, integrity, and study design, ensuring they are not compromised in the collaboration.

Zines as artistic tools in harm reduction: bridging subjective experience and scientific knowledge

Since the early days of the fight against HIV, zines have appeared to play a dual role: they encourage affected communities to voice their experiences and facilitate the exchange of information between researchers, professionals, and the individuals concerned, particularly drug users. However, few studies have examined the role of zines as a harm reduction tool within public health. This commentary draws on a two-year ethnographic study of a zine project designed for people facing drug-related challenges and vulnerabilities, such as social precarity and mental health issues. We identified various forms of engagement with the zine project, based on three key aspects. First, the zine elevates a plurality of voices, whether from the spheres of research, peer-based networks, healthcare professionals, or the streets and social precariousness. Second, the zine operates within a broader network of associations, fostering connections between local social action structures. Lastly, while the zine primarily addresses drug-related issues, it also opens space for broader topics such as precarity, gender, and migration. This thematic transversality stems from a desire to grasp the complexity of social factors that shape individual life trajectories.The production of a zine, envisioned as a platform for expression and the promotion of an alternative subculture, promotes the participation of those most distanced from care and among the most vulnerable populations. The peer-driven collaboration throughout the zine’s creation also enables the stakeholders involved (editorial team, contributors, readers, etc.) to contribute to the emergence of diverse forms of knowledge, fostering a new understanding of reality and bridging audiences that would otherwise rarely intersect.

Temporal structuring and the improvisation of management control in palm oil processing

PurposeThe key motivation of our research is to explore the complexities of management control in a complicated process of palm oil production setting. We seek to unpack the ways in which refinery operations staff (re)construct adaptive practices to manage temporal uncertainties and competing obsessions to effectively control the volatile and highly uncertain palm oil production processes of a large refinery in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachOur research adopts a qualitative methodology, framed around an ethnographic case study that utilizes multiple methods of data collection and analysis including observations, interviews, and document analysis. We observe how the key production processes and conduct eighty-one interviews with managers and workers who engage in inter-retro-actions around organizational decisions to prioritise a market aesthetic that results in highly uncertain manufacturing processes in the complex setting of palm oil refining.FindingsUsing the lens of improvisation in a complex organizational process (Amit and Knowles, 2017; Cunha et al., 2017; Weick, 2024), we explore the ambitious yet complex production dynamics, and the competing control pressures to meet an acceptable aesthetic quality within an acceptable cost of palm oil production. Our findings provide insight into how actors construct improvised incremental control across the palm oil production processes. Our findings provide a better understanding of how complex production processes such as palm oil face temporal uncertainties that lead to the necessity to craft temporal adaptive process routines.Originality/valueWe contribute by revealing the temporality of flexible control where actors cultivate temporary buffers or momentary improvisations to manage temporal uncertainties in a complex process industry setting. We uncover the fluid site of control where actors engage in temporary coordination of in-present-improvisational actions to alter temporal uncertainties due to attending to competing targets. We contend that much can be learned about interpersonal autonomous control in managing volatility and repairing control breakdowns in complex production processes that cannot simply be forecasted with sufficient accuracy. We believe that interpersonal reflection-in-actions becomes a necessity when standardized or controlled environments seek to achieve contradictory goals.

Discourse Shifts Surrounding Fengshui: An Ethnographic Study of Disputes Over a Heritage Building in Southern Fujian

ABSTRACTIn contemporary China, despite a widespread belief in Fengshui, its ambiguous legal nature has led to an increasing number of Fengshui disputes with limited resolution. Previous studies have overlooked disputes where parties are of an unequal status as well as the logic of discourse during the dispute resolution process. In this article, the “triple‐market” concept was used to define the gray legal nature of Fengshui in China, and the extended‐case method was used in an ethnographic study of a dispute over a heritage building in Southern Fujian. Our research indicates that shifts in discourse, a key characteristic of Fengshui claims, reflect attempts by victims to find solutions that align with their sense of justice. This process requires specific techniques and tactics, which refine Sally Engle Merry's theory on the application of “discourse shifts” in Fengshui disputes. Additionally, we describe in detail Fengshui disputes on the southeast coast of China that portray a complex regional landscape.

Confronting neoliberal education policies and COVID-19: Convergent trajectories of public school teacher resistance in Brazil and the United States

This paper uses comparative ethnography to examine the global spread of neoliberal education policies and public school teacher resistance to them in Brazil and the United States. Initially focused on teacher responses to São Paulo’s Programa Educação Compromisso (Commitment to Education Program), the study was expanded into a cross-national comparison with US education reforms that Brazilian elites promoted as successful and imitable models. The aim of the study thus became to compare local forms of teacher resistance to elite-driven global policy models. However, when the COVID-19 pandemic exploded between rounds of data collection, it created both new challenges and opportunities for the comparative ethnographic study. The pandemic introduced practical constraints that prevented a traditional ethnographic comparison, but it also made more visible the crucial role of public schools in guaranteeing the basic rights of school communities, and revealed how teachers’ collective responses to a global health crisis were informed by prior educational policy reforms. Ultimately, the paper argues that both elite-driven policy mobility and the global pandemic contributed to convergent trajectories in distant and historically distinct public school systems, imposing new challenges on teachers but also galvanizing similar practices of resistance and community engagement.

Pandemic preparedness: what difference does experience make?

This ethnographic study, conducted as part of the Pandemic Preparedness Project, explores the pandemic preparedness of communities in NG and its satellite settlements within Kailahun District, Eastern Province, Sierra Leone. The research site was particularly significant due to its history as one of the hardest-hit areas during the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak. NG is served by a Peripheral Health Unit (PHU) that provides health services to seven villages, as well as one distant village far from its designated facility. The study employed long-term observational research methods, where the researcher lived within the community, becoming an integrated observer familiar with local customs and daily life. This ethnographic approach aimed to understand the health-seeking behaviors of residents following the Ebola crisis. The onset of the Covid-19 pandemic during the study period shifted the focus to examine how the community understood and responded to a new pandemic threat. Additionally, the study reflects on the challenges faced by female social scientists in Sierra Leone, where few are trained in ethnographic methods. This article offers insights into the process of conducting ethnographic research in a challenging context, providing valuable guidance for other female researchers seeking to engage in similar bio-social studies.

Why initial teacher education does not prepare preservice teachers well for inclusive education

ABSTRACT Global education policies make a commitment to inclusive education, yet initial teacher education seems to struggle in preparing teachers for this task. We explore this matter in the present article. Life stories, participant observation and individual interviews over a period of two years with 28 preservice specialist teachers in an ongoing ethnographic study provide the data. The findings describe the presence of hegemonic ways of thinking, influenced by neoliberal principles, that have shaped conceptions of inclusive education. This hegemonic thinking is based on a deficit model of schooling that encourages the practice of exclusionary teaching methods rather than inclusive education. The article discusses the implications of this for initial teacher education and education for teaching in inclusive schools.

Addressing scabies among street children in Ethiopia: an ethnographic study of acceptable interventions by prospective recipients and deliverers

IntroductionScabies is a neglected tropical disease that affects the physical, socioeconomic, and psychological wellbeing of patients. Street children, due to poor living conditions and social marginalization, are at increased risk of infestation and face significant barriers to access healthcare services. Various interventions to control scabies have been suggested and implemented, but few have been based on the needs and viewpoints of the street children themselves. Drawing on the theoretical framework of acceptability (TFA), this article explores the interventions that street children, parents, and other key informants perceived to be appropriate to control scabies among street children.MethodsAn ethnographic approach was adopted to collect qualitative data from purposively selected street children, parents/caregivers, and key informants representing NGOs and the health and social sectors in Addis Ababa, Hawassa, and Adama. Rich data were gathered using FGDs, in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and drawing exercises, enhancing children's engagement in the study. Interviews were conducted in participants' preferred languages, recorded, transcribed verbatim, and translated into English for analysis. Data were coded by the two researchers who had collected them, and themes and sub-themes were identified.ResultsLiving in overcrowded conditions, lack of access to sanitation materials and health services were among the priority needs and lived experiences of the street children. Providing peer-led health education, educating and mobilizing existing healthcare providers, preventing child streetism, raising the awareness of the community children migrate from, and providing sanitation facilities were among the proposed interventions that were considered appropriate to control scabies among street children.ConclusionCollaborative and participatory interventions that align with the lived experiences of street children and other stakeholders are likely to increase participation and enhance the feasibility and impact of scabies control and elimination efforts.

Lived Experiences of Medically Admitted Tuberculosis Patients in a Public Hospital and Its Implications for TB Treatment Management and Care: A Narrative Analysis Around the First-Hand Experience in a Tuberculosis Ward

Introduction Along with bodily suffering, tuberculosis causes various socio-economic problems, including major crises on the personal end. For medically admitted chronic TB patients, a hospital is a place of more than only treatment that over time becomes a living place. The present study explored the individual patients’ perspectives on TB treatment. Methods The present ethnographic study was undertaken among the admitted tuberculosis patients of both sexes in the 18–70 age group in a referral government TB hospital in Odisha. Thirty selected in-depth interviews and case studies were taken to collect the data. Results TB challenges and in several contexts shatters the socio-economic conditions of such patients bringing several crises at the individual and interpersonal levels. The findings of the study suggest that social marginalization, poor socio-economic conditions, loss of livelihood, desertion, and abandonment of women and elderly, gender disparity while seeking health and treatment, gender-based family negligence, stigma, superstitious beliefs, and traditional medicinal practices had heavy bearings in tuberculosis patients’ lives. Conclusion The present hospital ethnography on TB patients indicates that emphasizing patients’ perspectives, provision of socio-psychological support at community and institutional levels in the hospital ward, and addressing tuberculosis-associated concerns have important positive outcomes in patients’ lives; it will also have major support in treatment adherence and early recovery by ensuring successful TB management and elimination.

Banal Radicalism: Free Spaces and the Routinization of Radical Practices in Far-Right Movements.

How do free spaces become radicalizing spaces? Studies of far-right radicalism have highlighted the role of insulated movement spaces in radicalizing their members. In these spaces, participants can flaunt their radical ideas and infuse them into everyday practices, forming these ideas into comprehensive and resilient worldviews. However, the salience of radical ideas in free spaces has also been found to be inconsistent and rare. This contrast makes it unclear when and how exactly free spaces contribute to the spread and persistence of radical ideas. Drawing on a 4-year ethnographic study of a radical right-wing libertarian movement in the US, this study shows how activists both highlight and downplay radical ideas creatively to solve situationally emergent challenges of coordinating action. Thus, while the movement's free spaces created circumstances that imbued some everyday mundane practices with radical political significance, they also facilitated an opposite process: they created conditions that obscured or even undermined the political meaning of otherwise radical practices. As I argue, rather than stifling the spread of radical ideas, this banalization of radical practices is a critical component of the radicalization process itself, allowing activists to coordinate radical action among a diverse group of people and across varying situations. In this way, free spaces contribute to the coordination of radical action, even among participants who do not necessarily express radical political motivations. Thus, the findings show how people's motivations for radical action are often articulated in the moment, in response to specific situations and the challenges they present.

The Ediga Community: Understanding the Social Fabric and Cultural Practices in Karnataka

Ethnographic studies have enriched our understanding of the Idiga community. The Ediga (Idiga) community is one of the prominent communities in South India and is scattered across the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Tamil Nadu. This review aims to explore the unique features of the Ediga community's society, way of life, culture, etymology, distribution, traditional occupations, family, social stratification, marriage practices among the community, religious beliefs and practices, life cycle rituals, gender roles, family structure, economic transformation, challenges, community governance, cultural interactions, status, educational and social advancements, dietary practices, and traditional practices, drawing insights from available literature and research. Additionally, the paper examines their unique characteristics, drawing insights from ethnographic records and supplemented by available literature.

Orienteering promoting community and nature connectedness in Italian VET students. An ethnographic Study of a nature-based intervention

This ethnographic study examines the effects of a health-promotion intervention involving orienteering in urban parks for first-year Italian vocational students. Green exercise, known to enhance psychological well-being and foster a sense of kinship with nature and community, was chosen to address risk factors in vocational education and training (VET) institutions. Orienteering offers mental and physical benefits while encouraging participation. This study involved 53 students (mean age 14.51) from a VET institution in Milan, employing interviews with teachers and ethnographic observations. Findings indicate that the intervention promoted group cooperation, reduced conflicts, and helped students develop navigation skills while exploring their city. It also strengthened students’ connestion with nature and community spaces, fostering a sense of belonging and engagement.

Cultural Heritage in Transition: The Role of Baxian Folk Music in the Posthumanist Era

Baxian folk music, centered around the Suona instrument, remains a vital element in the ritual fabric of Zhuang wedding ceremonies in Fengshan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. This ethnographic study investigates the cultural, symbolic, and performative roles of Baxian music while also exploring its precarious status in an era shaped by rapid technological, economic, and sociocultural transformations. Drawing on fieldwork observations, interviews with tradition bearers, and archival research, the study reveals that Baxian music operates as both an artistic form and a vessel of collective memory. However, the oral-based transmission of this intangible heritage faces threats from modern media, generational disinterest, and shifting socio-economic dynamics. In response, the study proposes a hybrid model of preservation, merging traditional pedagogies with digital tools, educational integration, and algorithmic dissemination. By reframing Baxian music within a posthumanist discourse, the research highlights the entanglements of human and non-human agencies in sustaining cultural continuity, offering an inclusive and adaptive framework for its revitalization.

Traditional ritual musicking as a medium for communicating ideals for social cohesion among the Zezuru communities of Zimbabwe

The paper interrogates how musicking and other ritual activities in traditional ceremonies help mitigate social disparities and discontent among the Zezuru people of Zimbabwe. The paper presents views and constructions on how these ceremonies and their associated musical practices act as sources of social cohesion and contribute to the sustainability of a society’s hegemony and social fabric. The discussion is grounded in field notes collected from culture bearers in Chikoma district through a qualitative ethnographic study of performances during the Zezuru traditional ceremonies, such as the ritual for cleansing the deceased’s spirit (kurova guva), finger millet threshing event (jakwara), and the rain-making ceremony (mukwerera). Findings indicated that musicking, as an integral part of these rituals, plays a crucial role in instilling the spirit of oneness (unhu/ubuntu) among community members. Elements such as dance (kutamba), singing (kuimba), ululating (kupururudza), spirit possession (kusvikirwa), and instrument playing (kuridza) form a sonic nexus in which participants engage collectively, reinforcing social harmony beyond the ceremonial context. The involvement in musicking during these ceremonies also helps resolve social and political tensions within the community. Community leaders, including spirit mediums, kraal heads, and chiefs, act as gatekeepers for these traditional ceremonies and strive profusely to uphold their significance by enforcing norms, values, and continued reverence for the ceremonies. However, these efforts face challenges from external influences such as Christianity, migration, urbanization, and modern technology, which threaten the continuity of these cultural practices.

Cosmopolitan Belonging and Third Space: An Ethnographic Study of the Durham Bubble Tea Society as a Site of Cultural Identity and Transnational Belonging

This ethnographic study explores the Durham Bubble Tea Society as a site of cultural identity and transnational belonging among university students. Through qualitative data collection, including interviews and questionnaires, this research investigates why students feel the need to establish a society centered around bubble tea, a drink with deep cultural resonance in East Asia but also a globalized product. The study identifies three overarching themes: maintaining original lifestyles amid transnational mobility, cosmopolitan aspirations and the symbolism of bubble tea, and the hybrid space of the Bubble Tea Society. These themes highlight how the society functions as a third space, bridging cultural divides and fostering transcultural connections. The findings contribute to broader theoretical discussions on transnational identity, cosmopolitan belonging, and the role of cultural artifacts in shaping globalized identities. This study underscores the importance of third spaces in fostering inclusivity and understanding, emphasizing the need for critical engagement with cultural symbols to ensure authentic cosmopolitan belonging.