~ a group blog on a variety of topics related to anthropology, sociology, and ordinary people ~
– guest blog By Sarah Huxley –
The joys and pains of ethnography, as many an ethnographer might tell you, focus on the immersive, and experiential conundrums that ‘real life’ invariably spits up. That’s not to say that there is no/ little preparation, but rather to say that the very nature of the ethnographic methodology, that is– the ontology, allows for and acknowledges that, just as in life, research must have a space for the unknown, or uninvited dinner guest.…
What is Ethnography?
Often, people do not understand my work as an ‘ethnographer.’
Perhaps, they assume I am creating a life of luxury for myself and just sitting somewhere. Or, they will ask me, are you a writer for the news? Then I reply, no, I am not that kind of writer. Often, those kinds of writers are financed by different corporations, they will arrive suddenly at such-and-such place, they will find a few people, they will ask a few questions, maybe hiring an interpreter, then they leave as fast as they arrived, and send their work to the newspaper or the evening news.…
Colonel Martin Schweitzer testified before two House Armed Services Committee Subcommittees on April 23 about the Human Terrain Team operating in Afghanistan. After reading it, I was not sure whether to jump up and down and yell yippee! because the military is discussing the role of culture in rural Afghanistan, or simply groan because so little of how social scientists think seem to have gotten through yet.
The statement was interesting for outside social scientists to read for a number of reasons, especially for how the military talks about culture, how the military’s understanding of culture works, and general social science research methods.…