Workshop on Ethnography

February 9 and 10, 2011

CSCS

Instructor: Ritty Lukose

In a highly abbreviated manner, these two workshops will explore the methodology of ethnography, as it has been developed and critiqued within the discipline of anthropology. Traditionally, this methodology is comprised of three central concepts. First, anthropological methodology involves demarcating a world that the anthropologist immerses herself in, traditionally called “the field”. Secondly, this immersion involves doing “fieldwork”, comprised of a number of practices such as participant-observation, interviewing, and archival/documentary/textual analysis of various kinds. Finally, these practices result in the writing of ethnographies, textual representations of what is “collected” in the “field” by the doing of “fieldwork”. The first session will offer a brief historical account of the development of these concepts within the history of anthropology and more recent debates about these concepts, while also attempting to give you a sense of how anthropologists think about, fetishize, and agonize over these terms. The second session examines recent debates about ethnography in light of politics, location, and identity, paying particular attention to feminism and queer sexualities. Ironically, at the moment that ethnography has undergone a rigorous critique within anthropology (from a textualist perspective), it has emerged as a methodology within the wider field of cultural studies as an important methodology, in order to move beyond textualist readings of popular culture, media, etc. It is hoped that this set of discussions about the story of ethnography within anthropology will inform those who which to employ it within cultural analysis. Note: Most of the readings are situated within debates within anthropology, as they have been discussed and debated within the tradition of anthropology within the US. While reference will be made to other traditions, they will be minor and in passing. Given the centrality of the debates about ethnography within the US tradition, it is hoped this will inform those interested in other locations of scholarship. I have designated some readings as “required” and others as “additional”, in order to guide your readings. I am hoping that you will be able to get through as much of the reading as possible. Also, reading the texts in order of appearance on this list is helpful.

January 9: The Field, Fieldwork, Ethnography

Required:

Geertz, Clifford. “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight” in Interpretations of Culture.

Gupta, Akhil and James Ferguson. 1997.  “Discipline and Practice: “The Field” as Site, Method, and Location in Anthropology” in Anthropological Locations: Boundaries and Grounds of a Field Science. University of California Press.

January 10: Politics, Ethnography, and Location

Required:

Abu-Lughod, Lila. 1991. “Writing Against Culture” in Recapturing Anthropology: Working in the Present, ed. Richard Fox.

Visweswaran, Kamala. 1996. Fictions of Feminist Ethnography. University of Minnesota Press. Chapter 3.