Critical Ethnography

D. Soyini Madison is professor of Performance Studies and Anthropology, and served as Interim Director of the Program in African Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of Acts of Activism: Human Rights as Radical Performance (2010, Cambridge UP) and the co-editor with Judith Hamera of the SAGE Handbook of Performance Studies (2006, SAGE). Madison lived in West Africa as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and has conducted field research over the past ten years on the performance tactics of local human rights activists in Ghana.

"Critical Ethnography is a passionate, wise, and wonderful book – even more commanding and evocative in its second edition, which adds new research examples, emerging moments in critical autoethnographies, and perfomative writing. In Madison’s vision, doing fieldwork seeps into and stretches out the lived world that we inhabit with others, a world where our studies make a difference to do more – or less -- good for participants. She tells rich and layered stories as case studies of the bodies and dialogues and situations that anchor theoretical options, ethical choices, and consequential actions. This accessible and eminently teachable text presents pragmatic advice at the same time it probes complex dilemmas in doing critical ethnography. It does not offer simple solutions and easy exits but neither does it overwhelm and paralyze. Especially, it inspires possibilities for researching, writing, and performing ethnographic knowledge that can make a better world for all. Read it if you’re new to ethnography; read it if you’re seasoned. It can make a difference."

• 1. Introduction to Critical Ethnography: Theory and MethodDefining Terms: What Is the Critical in Critical EthnographyDialogue and OthersThe Method and Theory NexusSummaryWarm-Ups2. Methods: “Do I Really Need a Method?” A Method . . . or Deep Hanging Out?"Who Am I?" Starting Where You Are"Who Else Has Written About My Topic?" Being Part of an Interpretive CommunityThe Power of Purpose: Bracketing Your SubjectPreparing for the Field: The Research Design and Lay SummaryInterviewing and Field TechniquesFormulating QuestionsTwo Classic ModelsExtra Tips for Formulating QuestionsMemory and the Oral History InterviewAttributes of the Interviewer and Building RapportCoding and Logging DataSummaryWarm-Ups3. Three Stories: Case Studies in Critical EthnographyCase 1: Local Activism in West AfricaCase 2: Secrets, Sexuality, and Oral HistoryCase 3: Community Theatre: Conflicts and OrganizationWarm-Ups4. EthicsEthics Is . .Religion and EthicsThe Question of FreedomCritical Ethnography and the Ethics of Reason, the Greater Good, and OthersMaria Lugones: Contemporary Ethics, Ethnography, and Loving PerceptionSummaryWarm-Ups5. Methods and EthicsCodes of Ethics for FieldworkExtending the CodesWarm-Ups6. Methods and Application: Three Case Studies in Ethical DilemmasCase 1: Local Activism in West AfricaCase 2: Secrets of Sexuality, and Oral HistoryCase 3: Community Theatre: Conflicts and OrganizationWarm-Ups7. Performance EthnographyFoundational Concepts in Performance and Social TheoryThe Performance Interventions of Dwight ConquergoodStaging Ethnography and the Performance of PossibilitiesAutoEthnography and/or Reflexive EthnographyThree Examples of Critical Reflexivity in AutoethnographyWarm-Ups8. It’s Time to Write: Writing as PerformanceGetting Started: In Search of the MuseThe Anxiety of Writing: Wild Mind and Monkey MindWriting as Performance and Performance as WritingWarm-Ups9. The Case StudiesCase 1: Staging Cultural PerformanceCase 2: Oral History and PerformanceCase 3: The Fieldwork of Social Drama and CommunitasWarm-Ups