ethnography Flashcards
insider/outsider - festinger, UFO cult ‘the seekers’, tactic
“Adopted insider roles, as seekers who were ‘non-directive, sympathetic listeners, passive participants who were inquisitive and eager to learn whatever others might want to tell [them].’” (pp. 249.)
They participated in this undercover work to “avoid alerting the group to the fact that it was being researched, and thus to avoid influencing the very beliefs, attitudes and responses they wished to observe.” (pp. 249.)
“They found it impossible to avoid discussing the belief system with members, answering calls from enquirers, and being seen as messengers (from the Guardians) by the movements leaders.” (pp. 250.)
insider/outsider - festinger, UFO cult ‘the seekers’, implications
“Their pretence as insiders raises ethical questions about whether and in what ways research should be informed and involved in decisions about the research process.” (pp. 250.)
Words used such as ‘detective’ and ‘surveillance’ just re-enforces the outsider-observer and insider-observer, raising questions about the power dynamic and presentation of religious groups.
observer as participant - Eileen barker
“Skeptical of the movement’s ((moonies)) self-image and the media account, Barker became an authorised observer whose research method was one of engaged participation. She lived in unification centres, attended workshops, listened to members, engaged in conversations and asked questions.”
“Barker’s etic account, interspersed with the experience of Moonies, ex-Moonies, non-Moonies and anti-Moonies, represented with a conscious attempt to translate Moonie reality and values for those unfamiliar with them.”
“She believed in an attempt to bridge the divergent perspectives of insiders and outsiders”
jo Pearson - criticism of luhrmann
She begins to criticise Luhrmann’s study of witches in London saying she, “retreats to a position which reduces Wicca and magical practice to a childish, regressive state, In which “these witches were recreating a childhood world, enchanting adulthood.”
This reductionist attitude leads to witchcraft and religion being considered ‘other’ and thus devalued.
Pearson - problems of anthropologists and solution
It is problematic for anthropologists to “refuse to acknowledge that the people studied may know something about the human condition that might also be personally valid for the anthropologist.”
“Rather than being an outsider who has become intensively involved in my field of research to such an extent that I became part of it, I have instead come from inside my field of research to employ an insider/outsider position which would allow me to study Wicca as scientifically as possible on a foundation of thorough knowledge.”
Pearson - tension of insider/outsider
“The researcher thus acts as both insider and outsider, embodying the resulting tension in a positive manner which enables constant reflexivity in the movement from inside to outside the community, and back.” – through this approach, a more holistic study of the community can take place.
Jose cabezon - impact of insider/outsider problem on tolerance
“the so called distance and objectivity of scholarship has often functioned in post-9/11 context as a smoke screen for deeply interested polemics against Islam and Muslims, and often participate in deeper logics of Islamophobia.”
plan - para 1
1 - Para 1 – Evangelical study and issue of subjectivity in study of religion, ammerman
- How personal upbringing can impact the way you approach study
- Question of outsider (etic)/insider (emic) in ethnographic research
o Is it possible to be an insider?
o She was raised an evangelical
o But outsider as a researcher
ao2
o Does the insider/outsider distinction exist?
- how does it link to theme of authority
You can’t be an ethnographer without leaving a mark on that which you are researching
- Works both ways: the researcher is also impacted by the community - Different perspective can be fruitful
para 2
Para 2 - illuminates wider relationships between religion and other spheres e.g. gender
- Audrey Richards
para 3
Para 3 – impact of history on religious evolution
- Geertz. interesting question of whether you apply theory to field or whether field gives you theory - lots of G’s theoretical understanding has come from case study
- Link to para 2 – how colonialism has affected religious evolution
intro/conc ideas
But recognise limits in ethnographies
- The perspective that you start with will impact the research you acquire
- If you go in with a reductionist mind-set you will not fully understanding the significance for the individuals who believe
- Tendency to generalise in religion
- Limits to only using one specific study to explore wider themes
