All-encompassing ethnographies: Strategies for feminist and equity-oriented institutional research

Abstract

This article addresses the challenges inherent to conducting ethnography in all-encompassing institutions and presents strategies for equity-oriented research in such restrictive settings. All-encompassing institutions are organizations that have no separation between home, work, and play, with forms of surveillance, power imbalances, and control that create logistical and ethical challenges for ethnographers. Building on feminist orientations to qualitative inquiry, the author shares vignettes from her research in a military institution to introduce four strategies for ethnography in these contexts. The strategies are: (a) adopting a participant-centered approach; (b) attending to power dynamics; (c) negotiating consent and confidentiality; and (d) engaging participants in research presentation. These strategies are applicable to ethnographers across contexts looking to meaningfully engage interlocutors in research generation and presentation.