Final reminder!
Moralities, 'sensitive issues' and ethnographic experience: challenges in
times of polarisation (P63)
Deadline for abstract submission: Monday, 15th February
Short Abstract
This panel explores footprints we leave behind and particular challenges
attached to anthropological research on 'sensitive issues', broadly
defined, in environments of increasing polarisation and of friction between
disputed understandings of liberal/conservative agendas and lifestyles.
Long Abstract
The last decade has seen an increase in polarisation articulated in
economically, religiously and ethnically charged discourses. The realm of
the private/intimate, permeated by secrecy and taboo, is increasingly
recognised as a powerful dimension of cultural and political phenomena and
thus reconfigured into a legitimate ground of anthropological interest with
important ethnographic challenges (for example Kulick and Wilson 2003,
Mahmood 2005). Taking these elements into consideration, this panel invites
contributions from anthropologists to reflect on the limits and limitations
of conducting ethnographic fieldwork on 'sensitive topics' or issues
commonly situated in the 'backstage' (Goffman, 1959), in contexts of
socio-political polarisation and friction between notions of
liberal/conservative agendas and lifestyles.
The proposed theme intends to stand as a provocation to reflect on how
ethnography of politically/morally charged or supposedly less accessible
realms of human experience may reshape our understanding of anthropological
fieldwork. What footprints do we leave behind and what are the particular
challenges and possibilities for anthropological research exploring
sensitive issues/intimacies in environments of politically charged
polarisation and potential conflict between liberal/conservative
lifestyles? Are there particular methodologies that lend themselves to
studying the 'backstage' in such ethnographic contexts and do they raise
specific ethical issues? How are transgression and taboo reconfigured and
negotiated by ourselves and our informants and can ethnographic exploration
constitute a particular form of political engagement in these contexts?
*Follow the link to propose a paper: *
http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa2016/paperproposal.php5?PanelID=4445
We look forward to meeting you in Durham!
Best wishes
Patricia Scalco
--
Patricia D. Scalco
PhD in Social Anthropology
University of Manchester
Department of Social Anthropology
Arthur Lewis Building - Oxford Road
M13 9PL Manchester
United Kingdom
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