Sophie Tabuteau-Harrison, Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson, Avril Mewse
{"title":"Dangerous Fieldwork: Reflections on Ethnographic Research with Irregular, Nigerian Streetwalkers and Madams in Spain","authors":"Sophie Tabuteau-Harrison, Jacquelyn Allen-Collinson, Avril Mewse","doi":"10.1177/08912416241265950","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241265950","url":null,"abstract":"Recent calls have been made to investigate the lived experience of migrant sex workers, to broaden the scope and inclusivity of macro-level conceptualizations, and to develop contextually grounded forms of understanding. Our ethnographic study sought to explore the lived perspectives of an under-researched occupational group: migrant women working as irregular streetwalkers in a European city. Nineteen Nigerian Edo women working as prostitutes and Madams in Spain participated in an ethnographic, longitudinal study spanning five years of data collection. In this article, we focus on some of the key challenges, including ethical considerations, of undertaking ethnographic work in a hazardous fieldwork setting that presents psychological and physical dangers to both participants and researchers, including threats of violence, and researcher burnout.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141785020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Boundary Work and Strategies of Compliance: The Underlife of the Ivory Tower","authors":"Daniel D. Martin, Janelle Wilson","doi":"10.1177/08912416241265704","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241265704","url":null,"abstract":"This study examines strategies employed by university administrators and managers to gain compliance from subordinates even as they attempted to increase their workload. These strategies have received comparatively little attention within organizational studies of compliance. The participants in our study included employees at a public university in the Midwest identifying themselves as either “staff/faculty” or “managers/administrators.” Our findings indicate that when administrators and managers are unable to use formal rewards and punishments they attempt to gain compliance from subordinates through two main strategies that we identify as overtures and interactional trebuchet. Both strategies represent a sequence of interaction that we refer to more generally as “boundary work”—a set of activities through which boundaries on time, resources, and workload are defended or diminished, and for which we provide a model. We draw upon organizational, symbolic interactionist, and dramaturgical theories in the analysis of our data.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-07-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141770794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“Re-Inventing How We Live in the City”: Well-being and the Los Angeles Ecovillage","authors":"Dani X. Knoll","doi":"10.1177/08912416241262758","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241262758","url":null,"abstract":"In this study I examine the ritualistic behavior of participants in the intentional community where I live, the Los Angeles Ecovillage, and how that relates to well-being in a collective sense. Studying the ritualistic behavior within the Los Angeles Ecovillage can offer insight into areas that have been perhaps less explored, as in ritual’s relationship to well-being in intentional communities, particularly in the urban context of this community. Furthermore, although it is a factor, psychological well-being in this context is not limited to an individual’s self-reported quality of mental and physical health—it arguably extends to a collective expression of well-being. In describing social alternative approaches to health and well-being related problems posed by societal barriers to human connection, a paradigm may be formed for how intentional community can support psychological needs.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141502014","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Social Life of Zines and Other DIY Micro-Media Constituting American DIY Communities and Scenes","authors":"David Verbuč","doi":"10.1177/08912416241252933","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241252933","url":null,"abstract":"The primary function of zines is often considered to be creative and expressive, and the function of other types of DIY (“do-it-yourself”) micro-media as utilitarian (e.g., flyers as promotion), but all of these media also perform important social roles. DIY micro-media (e.g., zines, flyers, Internet pages, graffiti, wall signs, and “thank you” notes) are in this way embroiled in social lives of their makers and help them constitute themselves culturally and socially. DIY micro-media in this way also acquire their own social lives. Inspired by my ethnographic observations of the social lives of DIY micro-media within particular American DIY houses and music scenes, I examine in this article not only the content of DIY zines and micro-media (i.e., to study them as texts), but primarily the social role of zines and other DIY micro-media in the material, social, and affective constitution of DIY and music communities and scenes (i.e., to study them as social agents). Therefore, I show how these micro-media operate as material and media objects that are simultaneously shaped by and shaping human and social relations. By combining zine and micro-media studies with anthropology and material culture studies, I offer in this article a nuanced micro perspective, both ethnographic and emic, of the social processes implicated in the social and economic mutual constitution between media objects and music/art communities and scenes.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141379676","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Like Water: Feeling and Negotiating Relational Complexity in School-Based Ethnographic Childhood Research in China Through the Lens of Emotional Reflexivity","authors":"Yan Zhu, Yuchen Wang","doi":"10.1177/08912416241246114","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241246114","url":null,"abstract":"Ethnography is often considered as a suitable methodological approach to explore childhoods, nevertheless, there is limited reflection on ethics in the field in the Global South educational settings, such as China. Previous China-based fieldwork studies suggest complex field relationships as a major ethical challenge. Although the issue is especially prominent in research that contests “normative” Chinese childhoods, it hasn’t been sufficiently discussed due to a culture of silence surrounding researchers’ emotions and positionality. This paper uses emotional reflexivity as a lens to revisit two Chinese female researchers’ experiences of fieldwork, respectively, with left-behind children and disabled children in Chinese primary schools. The analysis examines how we identified ourselves and negotiated complex relationships with school members and unpacks experiences of “sameness” and “otherness” and the vulnerability and creditability impacted by our fluid identities. The paper adds insights into ethical considerations of school-based ethnographic research with diverse children in the Global South.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140994600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Call for Papers: Ethnographies of Infrastructure","authors":"Philipp Budka, Peter Schweitzer, Olga Povoroznyuk","doi":"10.1177/08912416241254002","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241254002","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-05-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140886683","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Companion: A Hospital Autoethnography on the Relationship Between Informal and Formal Institutions","authors":"Devrim Adam Yavuz","doi":"10.1177/08912416241248459","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241248459","url":null,"abstract":"The article is an analytical autoethnography that explores the author’s experience of navigating the Turkish healthcare system while caring for his father who underwent emergency bypass surgery. Their atypical positions, at once members of a privileged group but lacking extensive familial connections, helped bring to light the diverse range of tactics that patients use to navigate the hospital, despite reforms that tried to establish greater universalism. By highlighting the relationship between formal institutions and informal practices in the healthcare system and how they survive to include/exclude different status groups, the author’s micro-level observations and background in political sociology help reveal the complex impact that non-universalistic practices have on democratization and political change in Turkey and beyond.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140798808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Tradwives: Right-Wing Social Media Influencers","authors":"Sophia Sykes, Veronica Hopner","doi":"10.1177/08912416241246273","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241246273","url":null,"abstract":"Globalizing anti-globalism and modernizing the anti-modern, Tradwives are communities of right-wing women who commercialize social media to commodify traditional heteronormative renditions of femininity that are equal parts ideology and aesthetic. As social media influencers, Tradwives grow social networks and expand audiences by monetizing right-wing ideologies and curating particular versions of wife and mother. A netnographic analysis designed to understand online cultures and communications was used to observe thirty-six Tradwife social media profiles over a 10-month period in 2022. Employing Koestler’s Theory of Holarchies, four key findings or “holons” comprised a holography or representation of Tradwife culture captured at a certain point in time. The Tradwife Landscape explored these women across a right-wing landscape, Cross-platform Influencers, outlined Tradwives operating across a variety of social media platforms; Feminine not Feminist, discussed Tradwives’ (anti)feminist standpoints; and The Tradwife Side-Hustle, examined the monetization of Tradwife culture. As an alive and growing ecosystem, Tradwife subculture offers supportive and empowered spaces for women wishing to take up roles as archetypal wives and mothers within highly conservative lifestyles. As agents of Tradwife subculture and wider right-wing communities, Tradwives raise important questions about gender and gendered relationships, sexuality, legal practices, public policy, and political systems. Above all else, Tradwives offer comments on the autonomy and agency women have in their everyday lives.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140623552","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ghosted: Challenges to Conducting Qualitative Research in the Digital Era","authors":"Blair Sackett","doi":"10.1177/08912416241237543","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241237543","url":null,"abstract":"Electronic forms of communication—including email, texting, and social media platforms—have increased the speed and ease of communication. Yet, a rise in non-response and ghosting (when someone ceases communication without an explanation) has been documented across contexts, from romantic dating to quantitative research studies. Surprisingly, the rise of electronic communication has received little attention in the methodological literature for qualitative researchers. Based on an analysis of virtual and face-to-face recruitment in two qualitative studies I conducted, I find that ghosting is a routine feature of digital recruitment. There are situational contexts in which ghosting is more common, including lags in the timing of communication and requests that are too overwhelming. “Old-school” methods, such as seeking sponsorship, strategizing outreach, and building rapport, can be adapted to help researchers capitalize on the benefits of electronic communication technologies in recruitment.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140228918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“I Don’t Come Here Just for the Food”: Manifestations of Care in Food Assistance Initiatives","authors":"Fábio Rafael Augusto","doi":"10.1177/08912416241239554","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416241239554","url":null,"abstract":"This paper seeks to understand the social role played by food assistance initiatives in Portugal. Based on the understanding that these organizations are “spaces of care,” it is possible to reflect on the support provided by them in a more comprehensive and integrative way. Therefore, the various care practices that emerge in these organizational contexts are explored. This study presents a qualitative comparative methodological approach and a range of ethnographic methods to explore the perspectives of different actors (supervisors, volunteers, and beneficiaries) within different models of food assistance (Surplus Food Redistribution Charity, Soup Kitchen, and Social Supermarket). The main results indicate the presence of several “improvised” and “veiled” care practices in the analyzed initiatives that go beyond food issues. These manifestations of care may stem from altruistic acts and/or function as a “remedial measure,” serving as a compensatory mechanism in response to services deemed inadequate.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2024-03-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140147181","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}