Introduction: when ethnography goes public / Didier Fassin -- Strategies -- Gopher, translator, and trickster : the ethnographer and the media / Gabriella Coleman -- What is a public intervention? : speaking truth to the oppressed / Ghassan Hage -- Before the commission: ethnography as public testimony / Kelly Gillespie -- Addressing policy-oriented audiences: relevance and persuasiveness / Manuela Ivone Cunha -- Engagements -- Serendipitous involvement : making peace in the geto / Federico Neiburg -- Tactical versus critical : indigenizing public ethnography / Lucas Bessire -- Experto crede? : a legal and political conundrum / Jonathan Benthall -- Policy ethnography as a combat sport : analyzing the welfare state against the grain / Vincent Dubois -- Tensions -- Academic freedom at risk : the occasional worldliness of scholarly texts / Nadia Abu El-Haj -- Perils and prospects of going public : between academia and real life / Unni Wikan -- Ethnography prosecuted : facing the fabulation of power / Jo?o Biehl -- How publics shape ethnographers : translating across divided audiences / Sherine Hamdy -- Epilogue: the public afterlife of ethnography / Didier Fassin.
Summary:
What happens when ethnographers go public via books, opinion papers, media interviews, court testimonies, policy recommendations, or advocacy activities? Calling for a consideration of this public moment as part and parcel of the research process, the contributors explore the challenges, difficulties, and stakes of having ethnographic research encounter various publics, ranging from journalists, legal experts, and policymakers to activist groups, local populations, and other scholars. The experiences they analyze include Didier Fassin's interventions on police and prison, Gabriella Coleman's multiple roles as intermediary between hackers and journalists, Kelly Gillespie's and Jonathan Benthall's experiences serving as expert witnesses, the impact of Manuela Ivone Cunha's and Vincent Dubois's work on public policies, and the vociferous attacks on the work of Unni Wikan and Nadia Abu El-Haj. With case studies from five continents, this collection signals the global impact of the questions that the publicization of ethnography raises about the public sphere, the role of the academy, and the responsibilities of social scientists.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.