Short term ethnography: intense routes to knowing
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how short-term theoretically informed ethnography is emerging as an approach to doing research that is contemporary in both its subject matter and in its use for applied research projects designed to lead to informed interventions in the world.
Abstract: In this article, we explore how short-term theoretically informed ethnography is emerging as an approach to doing research that is contemporary in both its subject matter and in its use for applied research projects designed to lead to informed interventions in the world. We argue that far from being a quick and dirty' route to doing qualitative research, short-term ethnography is characterized by forms of intensity that lead to deep and valid ways of knowing.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that heritage functions toward assembling futures, and thus might be more productively connected with other pressing social, economic, political, and ecological issues of our time.
Abstract: The critique of the separation of natural and cultural heritage is now well established. Rather than repeat arguments against what many would now acknowledge as an artificial separation, this paper considers the implications of working within the expanded field that is created for heritage when the dissolution of the boundaries between natural and cultural heritage is taken as given. I argue that embracing this dissolution allows us to reorient and reconceptualize heritage. Heritage is understood here as a series of diplomatic properties that emerge in the dialogue of heterogeneous human and non-human actors who are engaged in practices of caring for and attending to the past in the present. As such, heritage functions toward assembling futures, and thus might be more productively connected with other pressing social, economic, political, and ecological issues of our time. Indeed, we need not look far to comprehend alternative forms of heritage-making that already model such connectivity ontologie...
203 citations
01 May 2015
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that heritage functions towards assembling futures, and thus might be more productively connected with other pressing social, economic, political, and ecological issues of our time.
Abstract: The critique of the separation of natural and cultural heritage is now well established. Rather than repeat arguments against what many would now acknowledge as an artificial separation, this paper considers the implications of working within the expanded field that is created for heritage when the dissolution of the boundaries between natural and cultural heritage is taken as given. I argue that embracing this dissolution allows us to reorient and reconceptualize heritage. Heritage is understood here as a series of diplomatic properties that emerge in the dialogue of heterogeneous human and non-human actors who are engaged in practices of caring for and attending to the past in the present. As such, heritage functions towards assembling futures, and thus might be more productively connected with other pressing social, economic, political, and ecological issues of our time. Indeed, we need not look far to comprehend alternative forms of heritage-making that already model such connectivity ontologies. Fundamental to understanding the value of these alternative heritage ontologies is the recognition of ontological plurality: that different forms of heritage practices enact different realities and hence work to assemble different futures. Following on from this point, I sketch out an ontological politics of and for heritage—a sense of how heritage could be oriented towards composing “common worlds” or “common futures”, whilst maintaining a sensitivity to the ways in which each domain of heritage relates to a particular mode of existence. At stake here is the acknowledgement that each such mode of existence produces its own particular worlds and its own specific futures. I do this within the context of a consideration of the implications of the recognition of a certain set of entanglements of culture with nature, the folding together of what we used to term the human and the non-human, which characterizes our contemporary moment. To illustrate these points, I introduce the framework for a new collaborative research program, “Assembling alternative futures for heritage,” which considers the implications of working across an expanded field of heritage practices and attempts to reconfigure the relationship between heritage and other modalities of caring for the future.
168 citations
Cites methods from "Short term ethnography: intense rou..."
...While our approach is broadly ethnographic, drawing particularly on material, visual, and sensory ethnographies (e.g., Pink and Morgan 2013; see Pink 2009, 2012) and the distribution of agency across material assemblages of persons and things, we also aim to engage more inventive and experimental…...
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02 Jan 2017
TL;DR: The authors argue that traditional, expert-driven modes of significance assessment fail to capture the dynamic, iterative and embodied nature of social value, and that these are best combined with community participatory practices.
Abstract: In this article I consider the problems, dilemmas and opportunities surrounding approaches to social value in heritage conservation and management. Social value encompasses the significance of the historic environment to contemporary communities, including people's sense of identity, belonging and place, as well as forms of memory and spiritual association. These are fluid, culturally specific forms of value created through experience and practice. Furthermore, whilst some align with authorized heritage discourses, others are created through unofficial and informal modes of engagement. I argue that traditional, expert-driven modes of significance assessment fail to capture the dynamic, iterative and embodied nature of social value. Social research methods, such as qualitative interviewing and rapid ethnographic assessment, are more suited to assessing social values. However, these are best combined with community participatory practices, if we wish to capture the fluid processes of valuing the historic en...
162 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of "mundane data" is proposed as an analytical entry point for understanding Big Data and human experiences, routines, improvisations and accomplishments of digital data in the flow of the everyday.
Abstract: This article develops and mobilises the concept of ‘mundane data’ as an analytical entry point for understanding Big Data. We call for in-depth investigation of the human experiences, routines, improvisations and accomplishments which implicate digital data in the flow of the everyday. We demonstrate the value of this approach through a discussion of our ethnographic research with self-tracking cycling commuters. We argue that such investigations are crucial in informing our understandings of how digital data become meaningful in mundane contexts of everyday life for two reasons: first because there is a gap in our understanding of the contingencies and specificities through which big digital data sets are produced, and second because designers and policy makers often seek to make interventions for change in everyday contexts through the presentation of mundane data to consumers but with little understanding of how people produce, experience and engage with these data.
147 citations
Cites background from "Short term ethnography: intense rou..."
...First, the mundane is ‘quiet’ (Pink and Morgan, 2013) rather than blatant, but it is continuous, necessary and a site of improvisation....
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TL;DR: The aim of this review is to briefly explore the ways in which data collection and analysis methods have been adapted in qualitative research to deal with short study timeframes.
Abstract: Qualitative researchers are under increasing time demands to rapidly collect, analyze, and disseminate the results of their findings. Adaptations to qualitative methods may be required to enable the use of timely and relevant qualitative data across multiple disciplinary settings. The aim of this review is to briefly explore the ways in which data collection and analysis methods have been adapted in qualitative research to deal with short study timeframes. We carried out a two-phased systematic review of the literature and determined there were six primary reasons why rapid techniques were used: (a) reduce time, (b) reduce cost, (c) increase the amount of collected data, (d) improve efficiency, (e) improve accuracy, and (f) obtain a closer approximation to the narrated realities of research participants. In addition, we analyzed the characteristics of the articles, how traditional methods were adapted and evaluated, the benefits and limitations of using rapid techniques, and future recommendations.
137 citations
Cites background from "Short term ethnography: intense rou..."
...…Assessment Procedures (RAP; Scrimshaw & Hurtado, 1988), Rapid Ethnographic Assessments (REA; Bentley et al., 1988), the RARE model (Brown et al., 2008), Rapid Qualitative Inquiry (RQI; Beebe, 2014), quick ethnography (Handwerker, 2001) and shortterm ethnographies (Pink & Morgan, 2013) among others....
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References
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Book•
01 Jan 1986
TL;DR: The authors explore the ways in which writing culture has changed the face of ethnography over the last 25 years. But they do not discuss the role of writing culture in the development of ethnographies.
Abstract: This seminal collection of essays critiquing ethnography as literature is augmented with a new foreword by Kim Fortun, exploring the ways in which Writing Culture has changed the face of ethnography over the last 25 years.
5,353 citations
Book•
05 Aug 2009TL;DR: Sensory Ethnography as discussed by the authors introduces the concept of sensory embodied learning and introduces the idea of sensory ethnography as a way to understand and communicate about sensory cultures and cultures.
Abstract: Introducing Sensory Ethnography Understanding Sensory Cultures Preparing for Sensory Research Participant observation: sensory embodied learning Interviewing (Audio)Visual Methods Combining methods Analysing sensory materials Representing and communicating about sensory ethnography
1,765 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that to inhabit the world is to live life in the open, and that life is lived in a zone in which earthly substances and aerial media are brought together in the constitution of beings which, in their activity, participate in weaving the textures of the land.
Abstract: In this paper I argue that to inhabit the world is to live life in the open. Yet philosophical attempts to characterise the open lead to paradox. Do we follow Heidegger in treating the open as an enclosed space cleared from within, or Kant (and, following his lead, mainstream science) in placing the open all around on the outside? One possible solution is offered by Gibson in his ecological approach to perception. The Gibsonian perceiver is supported on the ground, with the sky above and the earth below. Yet in this view, only by being furnished with objects does the earth–sky world become habitable. To progress beyond the idea that life is played out upon the surface of a furnished world, we need to attend to those fluxes of the medium we call weather. To inhabit the open is to be immersed in these fluxes. Life is lived in a zone in which earthly substances and aerial media are brought together in the constitution of beings which, in their activity, participate in weaving the textures of the land. Here, ...
408 citations
Book•
01 Sep 2004TL;DR: The authors explored the intimate, material and sensory spaces of the home to uncover how gender roles are performed within our personal private worlds, and showed how everyday items ranging from perfumes to soap powder imprint and reinforce daily experience and a sense of identity.
Abstract: Based on extensive fieldwork, this book explores the intimate, material and sensory spaces of the home to uncover how gender roles are performed within our personal private worlds. Pink shows how everyday items ranging from perfumes to soap powder imprint and reinforce daily experience and a sense of identity. How has the home been affected by the fact that more and more women now got to work and increasingly more men spend time engaged in domestic tasks? How do more traditional family-centred homes compare with those belonging to diverse family forms and people living alone? What does a study of domestic gender tell us about how change occurs?"
305 citations
Book•
20 Apr 2012TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue for an innovative, ethnographic approach to understand contemporary everyday life and activism, using detailed examples, based in real world and digital research, to bring its theories to life.
Abstract: The study of everyday life is fundamental to our understanding of modern society. This agenda-setting book provides a coherent, interdisciplinary way to engage with everyday activities and environments. Arguing for an innovative, ethnographic approach, it uses detailed examples, based in real world and digital research, to bring its theories to life. The book focuses on the sensory, embodied, mobile and mediated elements of practice and place as a route to understanding wider issues. By doing so, it convincingly outlines a robust theoretical and methodological approach to understanding contemporary everyday life and activism. A fresh, timely book, this is an excellent resource for students and researchers of everyday life, activism and sustainability across the social sciences
297 citations