Dane Morace-Court – författare

Autoethnography: A Case for the Defence presents a thoughtful and compelling exploration of autoethnography as a research methodology, addressing the growing wave of academic, analytical and ethical critiques that accompany its rising prominence. Rather than simply outlining the foundations and rationale behind autoethnography, this text takes a distinctive stance by advocating for and defending the methodology in response to the evolving discourse around its validity. It provides deeper insight and practical guidance for those interested in pursuing or better understanding qualitative research methods. Grounded in robust research and interwoven with references to influential autoethnographic works, the book establishes a strong scholarly framework, reinforcing the credibility of autoethnography as a valuable methodological tool. Through engaging, accessible prose, the author confronts criticisms head-on, offering clear explanations and vivid examples that underscore autoethnography’s vital role in examining and interpreting complex and broad social phenomena. This book is designed for students, academics and researchers interested in autoethnography, qualitative inquiry and broader research methodologies.

Autoethnography: A Case for the Defence presents a thoughtful and compelling exploration of autoethnography as a research methodology, addressing the growing wave of academic, analytical and ethical critiques that accompany its rising prominence. Rather than simply outlining the foundations and rationale behind autoethnography, this text takes a distinctive stance by advocating for and defending the methodology in response to the evolving discourse around its validity. It provides deeper insight and practical guidance for those interested in pursuing or better understanding qualitative research methods. Grounded in robust research and interwoven with references to influential autoethnographic works, the book establishes a strong scholarly framework, reinforcing the credibility of autoethnography as a valuable methodological tool. Through engaging, accessible prose, the author confronts criticisms head-on, offering clear explanations and vivid examples that underscore autoethnography’s vital role in examining and interpreting complex and broad social phenomena. This book is designed for students, academics and researchers interested in autoethnography, qualitative inquiry and broader research methodologies.

This eminently timely volume offers a critical examination of the educational experiences of white working-class boys, interrogating the impact of neoliberal education policies, hegemonic masculinity and the increasing influence of digital culture on how they engage, or disengage, with schooling. Foregrounding the voices of young men compiled over five years through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and a novel reflexive ethnographic data saturation cycle, the book challenges dominant narratives surrounding young, white working-class boys in education, positioning their disengagement as an outcome of intersecting structural inequalities, policy frameworks and shifting cultural narratives. As a result, the book explores how emerging hyper-masculine digital subcultures and a lack of school engagement have led many to seek status outside of formal education. Particularly focused on policy recommendations, the book speaks to international debates such as those in Australia, the United States and parts of Europe, around neoliberalism, educational exclusion and marginalised youth, offering comparative insights and global relevance despite its English empirical setting. Offering a fresh, intersectional analysis of masculinity, class and educational inequality, the book will be of direct relevance to scholars, researchers and postgraduates in the field of the sociology of education, research methods in education, neoliberalism and education policy more broadly. Policy makers concerned with the influence of social media on young men in schools will also find value in the volume.