Critical Ethnography : Method, Ethics, and Performance

by D. Soyini Madison

• ISBN13: 9781412980241
• ISBN10: 1412980240
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-07-13
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

Critical Ethnography, Second Edition#xA0;presents a fresh new look at critical ethnography by emphasizing the significance of ethics and performance in the art and politics of fieldwork. The productive links between theory and method are celebrated in this text. Theoretical concepts range from queer theory, feminist theory, and critical race theory to Marxism and phenomenology. The methodological techniques range from designing and asking in-depth interview questions and developing rapport to coding and interpreting data. The various theories and methods culminate in three fictional ethnographic case studies that "enact" the interdependence between theory and method and the significance of social theory, ethics, and performance.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Introduction to Critical Ethnography: Theory and Method	p. 1
Defining Terms: What Is the Critical in Critical Ethnography?	p. 5
Dialogue and Others	p. 10
The Method and Theory Nexus	p. 13
Summary	p. 15
Warm-Ups	p. 17
Methods: "Do I Really Need a Method?" A Method ... or Deep Hanging Out?	p. 19
"Who Am I?" Starting Where You Are	p. 21
"Who Else Has Written About My Topic?" Being a Part of an Interpretive Community	p. 22
The Power of Purpose: Bracketing Your Subject	p. 22
Preparing for the Field: The Research Design and Lay Summary	p. 24
The Research Design	p. 24
The Lay Summary	p. 25
Interviewing and Field Techniques	p. 27
Formulating Questions	p. 28
Two Classic Models	p. 29
One: The Patton Model	p. 29
Two: The Spradley Model	p. 31
Extra Tips for Formulating Questions	p. 33
More Models	p. 33
Initial Brainstorming and Puzzlements	p. 33
Memory and the Oral History Interview	p. 34
Langellier and Peterson's Four Entry Points of Analysis	p. 37
Attributes of the Interviewer and Building Rapport	p. 39
Mindful Rapport	p. 39
Anticipation	p. 39
Positive Naïveness	p. 39
Active Thinking and Sympathetic Listening	p. 40
Status Difference	p. 40
Patiently Probing	p. 40
Classic "Threats"	p. 41
Coding and Logging Data	p. 43
An Alternative View: Amira De La Garza and the Four Seasons of Ethnography	p. 45
Summary	p. 49
Warm-Ups	p. 49
Three Stories: Case Studies in Critical Ethnography	p. 51
Local Activism in West Africa	p. 52
Key Concepts in Postcolonial and Marxist Theory	p. 52
Key Concepts in Postcolonialism	p. 55
Key Concepts in Marxist Thought	p. 62
Secrets, Sexuality, and Oral History	p. 67
Key Concepts in Phenomenology	p. 70
Subjectivity and Belonging	p. 73
Biopolitics and Affect	p. 75
Key Concepts in Sexuality	p. 77
Community Theatre: Conflicts and Organization	p. 81
Key Concepts in Theories of Difference: Race	p. 84
Key Concepts in Theories of Difference: Gender	p. 89
Problems of Gender in the Field: "Women Like Us and Women Not Like Us"	p. 91
Warm-Ups	p. 93
Ethics	p. 95
Ethics Is ...	p. 96
Advocacy and Ethics	p. 97
Religion and Ethics	p. 102
Interview With Desmond Tutu	p. 102
The Question of Freedom	p. 107
Critical Ethnography and the Ethics of Reason, the Greater Good, and Others	p. 109
Reason	p. 109
The Greater Good	p. 111
Maria Lugones: Contemporary Ethics, Ethnography, and Loving Perception	p. 118
World Traveling and Loving Perception	p. 118
Summary	p. 123
Warm-Ups	p. 125
Methods and Ethics	p. 127
Codes of Ethics for Fieldwork	p. 128
Code of Ethics of the American Anthropological Association	p. 128
Extending the Codes	p. 137
Moral Dilemmas	p. 137
Conceptual Errors	p. 140
Dialogical Performance	p. 142
Warm-Ups	p. 146
Methods and Application: Three Case Studies in Ethical Dilemmas	p. 147
Local Activism in West Africa	p. 147
Advocacy, Representation, and Voice	p. 147
Method and Advocacy	p. 151
Secrets, Sexuality, and Oral History	p. 155
Trust, Confidentiality, and Informed Consent	p. 155
Method and Confidentiality	p. 158
Community Theatre: Conflicts and Organization	p. 160
Fairness, Critical Judgment, and Policy Implications	p. 160
Method and Criticism	p. 161
Warm-Ups	p. 163
Performance Ethnography	p. 165
Foundational Concepts in Performance and Social Theory	p. 166
Performance as Experience	p. 166
Performance as Social Behavior	p. 168
Performance as Language and Identity	p. 177
Performativity	p. 179
Utopian Performatives	p. 182
The Performance Interventions of Dwight Conquergood	p. 184
Process and Performance	p. 184
The Body and Scriptocentrism	p. 185
Dialogical Performance	p. 186
Cultural Politics	p. 187
Staging Ethnography and the Performance of Possibilities	p. 190
The Subjects	p. 191
The Audience	p. 193
The Performers	p. 195
Autoethnography and/or Reflexive Ethnography	p. 197
Three Examples of Critical Reflexivity in Autoethnography	p. 199
Warm-Ups	p. 208
It's Time to Write: Writing as Performance	p. 209
Getting Started: In Search of the Muse	p. 210
Research Questions and Statement of Purpose	p. 211
The Muse Map and the Road Map	p. 211
Schedules and Time Management	p. 213
First Draft and Free Writing	p. 216
The Anxiety of Writing: Wild Mind and Monkey Mind	p. 217
Continents, Islands, and the Editor	p. 218
Writing as Performance and Performance as Writing	p. 220
Performative Writing Is to Embrace	p. 220
Performative Writing Is to Enact	p. 223
Performative Writing Is to Embody	p. 227
Performative Writing Is to Effect	p. 230
Warm-Ups	p. 232
The Case Studies	p. 233
Staging Cultural Performance	p. 233
Why Did Joan Choose to Adopt and Direct a Cultural Performance From Her Fieldwork?	p. 234
How Did Joan Translate Her Fieldwork to the Stage? What Was Her Process?	p. 234
What Stage Techniques Did Joan Adapt?	p. 235
Did Joan Encourage a Collaborative Process in Directing the Performance?	p. 237
Could Joan Have Employed a More Collaborative Approach?	p. 238
Oral History and Performance	p. 238
What Is Poetic Transcription?	p. 239
Did Robert's Theoretical Analysis Threaten to Diminish the Living Voices and Perspectives of His Narrators?	p. 242
The Fieldwork of Social Drama and Communitas	p. 243
When Did the Breach Occur?	p. 244
How Did the Crisis Evolve?	p. 244
What Form Did Redressive Action Take?	p. 245
How Did Communitas Invoke Reintegration?	p. 246
Warm-Ups	p. 248
References	p. 249
Index	p. 271
About the Author	p. 285
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