{"title":"Four Distinct Cultures of Oilfield Masculinity, but Absent Hegemonic Masculinity: Some Multiple Masculinities Perspectives from a Remote UK Offshore Drilling Platform","authors":"Nicholas Norman Adams","doi":"10.1177/08912416221116658","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221116658","url":null,"abstract":"This study explores the multiple and distinct cultures of oilfield masculinity uncovered during an embedded ethnographic study of masculinities onboard a remote UK offshore drilling platform. Oilmen revealed shifting interpretations for how risky and dangerous oil work “should be done.” Changes led to the construction of three distinct masculine cultures intertwined with positive safety behaviors and one culture intertwined with negative risky behaviors. Tracing the trajectory of Connell’s hegemonic masculinity theory, no singular “hegemonic” or dominant masculinity existed in the oilfield. Also, unlike some existing oilfield research, masculine reformations and subsequent divisions and associations between local cultures were triggered by factors independent from shifts in workplace policies. Rather, and linking with emerging research exploring “manhood acts”; oilmen consciously reformulated their masculine identities, embodying self-awareness and self-reflection for reimagining processes, and themselves recognized each industrial identity as unique and capable of cultural support or resistance. Perspectives of growth for “hegemonic” masculinities theory are presented, alongside suggestions for further examination of masculinities in understudied male-dominated workplaces, to further expand the “manhood acts” research perspective.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42316498","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":"Ethnography, Tactical Responsivity and Political Utility.","authors":"Naomi Nichols, Emanuel Guay","doi":"10.1177/08912416211060870","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416211060870","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In this article, we address issues of attribution, utility, and accountability in ethnographic research. We examine the two main analytical approaches that have structured the debate on data collection and theorization in ethnography over the last five decades: an inductivist approach, with grounded theory as its main analytic strategy; and a deductivist stance, which uses field sites to explore empirical anomalies that enable an ethnographer to test and build upon pre-existing theories. We engage recent reformulations of this classical debate, with a specific focus on abductive and reflexive approaches in ethnography, and then weigh into these debates, ourselves. drawing on our own experiences producing and using research in non-academic settings. In so doing, we highlight the importance of strategy and accountability in one's ethnographic practices and accounts, advocating for an approach to ethnographic research that is reflexive and overtly responsive to the knowledge needs and change goals articulated by non-academic collaborators. Ultimately, we argue for a research stance that we describe as tactical responsivity, whereby researchers work with key collaborators and stakeholders to identify the strategic aims and audiences for their research, and develop ethnographic, analytic, and communicative practices that enable them to generate and mobilize the knowledge required to actualize their shared aims.</p>","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/a7/5c/10.1177_08912416211060870.PMC9240377.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"40468413","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“The Glorious Pain”: Attaining Pleasure and Gratification in Times of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) among Gym Goers","authors":"Assaf Lev","doi":"10.1177/08912416221113369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221113369","url":null,"abstract":"Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a widely known phenomenon among gym goers. For many of them, experiencing DOMS the day after working out in the gym is often perceived as rewarding and something of which to brag and be proud. Although existing work within the biomedical field has undoubtedly shed light on coping with and managing DOMS, there remains little in-depth qualitative research on the gym goer’s lived experience regarding this phenomenon. Following Becker’s conceptual framework of using marihuana for pleasure, the article will examine the way gym goers learn to attain pleasure and gratification in times of DOMS through a process of reframing and socialization. Ethnographic research was conducted for two years in two gyms, using a combination of participant observation and semi-structured interviews. Findings illustrate three coherent stages a novice gym goer experiences while becoming an experienced gym goer and enjoying DOMS: (1) learning the proper “working-out” technique required to experience positive effects; (2) recognizing the effects of DOMS and their connection with the workout; and (3) enjoying the effects of DOMS caused by working out. Moreover, once gym goers manage to change the definition of negative sensations and interpret them as enjoyable, DOMS often becomes an indispensable experience that has to be religiously pursued. In this context, the audience in front of which the gym goers perform their DOMS serves as a “front region of behavior” for gaining social recognition by instrumentalizing their pain to strengthen and solidify their gym goer identity.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-07-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49314091","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":"#LongLiveDaGuys: Online Grief, Solidarity, and Emotional Freedom for Black Teenage Boys after the Gun Deaths of Friends","authors":"Nora Gross","doi":"10.1177/08912416221105869","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221105869","url":null,"abstract":"This ethnographic study follows a group of Black teenage boys in their Philadelphia high school and online in the years following the shooting death of their friend. Within their peer group, the boys generally focus their shared memorializations on upbeat and affirming reminiscences, protecting each other from sadness but constraining their own emotional displays. In contrast, in the boys’ private worlds, most spend years actively working through their grief in material and embodied ways, including through objects they keep or wear. On social media, these private and public worlds converge as the boys regularly share their private grief expressions with public audiences and define their digital identities by loss. Contrary to popular worries about adolescent social media use, this research finds that for grieving Black boys online worlds offer unusual space for emotional freedom, social support, and solidarity around loss and a counter to restrictive racialized and gendered feeling rules.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-06-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"65809297","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":"Terminating a Wanted Pregnancy: A Feminist, Analytic Autoethnographic Account","authors":"Batsheva Guy","doi":"10.1177/08912416221106467","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221106467","url":null,"abstract":"With screening for fetal anomaly becoming more common, more families are faced with making decisions based on receiving fetal anomaly diagnoses after the first trimester. After receiving a diagnosis of fetal anomaly, which is typically associated with shock and denial, pregnant people and couples immediately become faced with a difficult decision of either continuing or terminating the pregnancy. Once a pregnancy termination decision has been made, following abortion of a wanted pregnancy, feelings of grief and sadness are common. While research has been done on the impact of decision-making and mental health diagnoses pre- and post-terminating a wanted pregnancy, there has been little research detailing effective coping strategies for dealing with these unexpected and devastating circumstances. The current study is a feminist analytic autoethnography, which details the experience of my own abortion through a reflexive account. I aim to explore my own methods of coping that were successful as I overcame grief, guilt, and anxiety after terminating my wanted pregnancy due to a fetal anomaly.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48764703","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":"Touch Me if You Can: Intimate Bodies at Cuddle Parties","authors":"Cornelia Mayr","doi":"10.1177/08912416221100581","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221100581","url":null,"abstract":"This article is based on ethnographic fieldwork, focusing on the processes and practices of cuddle parties. Data was collected from a combination of participant-observation, interviews, and diaries aimed to understand and interpret this unique form of intimate interaction. By disentangling bodily disciplines and dramaturgical (self-)presentations, this study explores how and to what extent cuddle party participants embody safe and nonsexual touch experiences in forms of “playful” interaction rituals. Alongside the chance for participants to explore bodies, with permission, this study concludes that cuddle parties are experiential, bounded playgrounds where both intimacy and touch are (re)created in the context of loosened normative, relational, and sexual constraints.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-06-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45361918","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}
N. Turgo, Wendy Cadge, S. Gilliat‐Ray, Helen Sampson, Graeme Smith
{"title":"Relying on the Kindness of Strangers: Welfare-Providers to Seafarers and the Symbolic Construction of Community","authors":"N. Turgo, Wendy Cadge, S. Gilliat‐Ray, Helen Sampson, Graeme Smith","doi":"10.1177/08912416221092001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221092001","url":null,"abstract":"Seafarers who call into ports usually hope for, or anticipate, a visit from people who provide them with welfare services—from SIM cards and mobile top-up vouchers to religious or nonreligious reading materials, and free transport to the nearest seafarers’ center or shopping mall. In seafarers’ centers, seafarers can normally use free internet facilities, enjoy drinks from the bar, avail themselves of remittance services, and if they wish, practice their faith in rooms/chapels dedicated to religious observance. While port chaplains are usually the people that seafarers associate with welfare services, port chaplains are not alone in providing these services—there are also paid staff and volunteers working in seafarers’ centers. This worldwide community of welfare providers displays the patina of a homogeneous bloc, sharing the same functions, activities, and end-goals in their everyday pursuits in ports and seafarers’ centers. However, this belies a more complex and sometimes fractured community of welfare providers in ports. While their services could be described with one coherent narrative of kindness to strangers, members of this community come from different backgrounds and are employed by different welfare organizations, and in the case of port chaplains, by different religious maritime charities with varying theologies. As a result of this, and the challenges to and changing contexts of maritime welfare services, in ports worldwide, this community is riven with contestation and everyday politics, which may be associated with a symbolically constructed community. This article expands on these issues. It is underpinned by research into welfare provision in two UK ports and in five other countries. It highlights narratives of unity and conflict, opening the doors to a community of people rarely noticed by social scientists.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42217507","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":"“Mimicked Winks”: Criminalized Conduct and the Ethics of Thick Description","authors":"Liora O’Donnell Goldensher","doi":"10.1177/08912416221094653","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221094653","url":null,"abstract":"Thick description has long been the standard for both credibility and quality in ethnographic, community action, and participatory observation research across the disciplines, but I argue that researchers have an ethical obligation to consider when to decline to describe thickly. When ethnographers write about actions their informants took that broke, skirted, or challenged laws and rules in service of meeting their own basic needs, anonymization is not enough. We risk drawing the attention of law enforcement or hostile regulators to whole communities employing those practices, rendering their future actions more highly policeable or criminalizable—even if we do not intend to do so, and even if we adequately conceal the identities of the particular individuals described. I suggest five principles for ethical description of criminalized or policeable conduct: justified disclosure, substituting thick description of evidence of a practice for description of the practice itself, balancing thickness with thinness, telling stories when the risks of criminalization are decreasing, and narrating affinities with less-surveilled practices.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45762442","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":"Families on the Streets: Placemaking in an Urban Heritage Site in Cebu City, the Philippines","authors":"Bonifacio M. Amper","doi":"10.1177/08912416221089925","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221089925","url":null,"abstract":"Streets are public spaces where people pass through in going from one place to another. As such, streets are not supposed to be dwelling places. However, rapid urbanization has ushered in problems on housing, livelihood, and basic social facilities and services, giving rise to informal settlements and street living in cities. In Cebu City (a highly urbanized city in Central Philippines), displacement from urban slums as well as, lack of livelihood options have pushed some people to dwell on the streets and sidewalks in sites most visited by foreign and local tourists. Through street ethnography, this research uncovers how street dwellers in a heritage site in downtown Cebu City came to live and make a living here. The findings point to the fact that street dwellers have socially constructed and purposely transformed heritage spaces into places where they do their daily domestic routines as well as livelihood activities, in order to survive. This article posits that placemaking by these street dwellers in this heritage site is a process from entering and integrating into the place, appropriating specific spaces into places with meanings for them, building and maintaining social networks, contesting notions of the place, and developing a street culture over time.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49083058","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 Mental Life of a Telephone Pole and Other Trifles: Affective Practices in the Context of Research Funding","authors":"P. Olsson","doi":"10.1177/08912416221085713","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/08912416221085713","url":null,"abstract":"This article uses ethnographic social media analysis to interpret affective practices concerning research funding. The analysis is based on Finnish Twitter discussions both within academia and between researchers and those outside academia. Different kinds of affective practices, both sharing and othering, are present in the discussions that guide the ways we make sense of the role of science in our individual lives, as well as in society more generally. We need to see these emotions at work as signals of negotiations of values in the context of neoliberal universities and freedom of science.","PeriodicalId":47675,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Contemporary Ethnography","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6,"publicationDate":"2022-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48428502","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}