Ethnography's Ghosts

Spectres, Archives, Ancestors
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-032-88824-8
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 176 Seiten, Format (B × H): 170 mm x 244 mm, Gewicht: 292 g

With contributions from experienced scholars in sociology and anthropology, Ethnography’s Ghosts illuminates and interrogates the 'ghosts' of past ethnographic fieldwork – whether revisited in practice or in the imagination.

This book captures the remnants of past ideas, people, and legacies that shape current practices, highlighting how fieldnotes transform into precious archives that both anchor and haunt researchers. By revisiting these notes, scholars experience a blend of nostalgia and revelation, freeing themselves from the pressures of immediate research demands and gaining new insights. The volume also addresses the ethical complexities of dealing with both personal and others' ghosts, offering a nuanced look at how past experiences continue to influence present scholarship.

This book makes an important intervention in discussions amongst sociologists, anthropologists, and other social scientists engaged in or reflecting on ethnographic research.

Zielgruppe

Postgraduate and Undergraduate Advanced

Autoren/Hrsg.

Whitaker, Emilie Morwenna

Atkinson, Paul

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Psychologie Psychologie / Allgemeines & Theorie Psychologische Forschungsmethoden
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Empirische Sozialforschung, Statistik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Prelims

Notes on contributors

- Emilie Morwenna Whitaker and Paul Atkinson, Introduction: Ghosts, Ancestors And Ethnographers

- Emilie Morwenna Whitaker, Ghosts and the Archive

- Paolo Favero, An Anthropologist Among Ghosts: On a House, Images and the Many Uses of Ethnography

- Cristina Rocha, A Haunted Field: The Ghosts of Abuse in Spiritual Communities

- Deborah Reed-Danahay, The Ghosts of First Fieldwork

- Helena Wulff, When I Was a Theatre Ghost: Spectral Stories and Forms of Folklore in the Field

- Michael Herzfeld, Agnosticism and Spectrality: Ghostly Traces and Ethnographic Experience

- Tia DeNora, Perceiving the Beyond of ‘End-of-Life’: The Idea of Commuting Ghosts

- Roger Sansi, Return to the Orixás

- Maia Hetaraka, Selena Meiklejohn-Whiu, Justice Hetaraka, Katie Fitzpatrick and Melinda Webber, What kind of an ancestor do you want to be? Engaging with tupuna in indigenous ethnography in Aotearoa New Zealand

- Sara Delamont, The Ghosts Behind My Chair: Reflections on the Fieldwork at St. Luke’s

- Greg Smith, Spectral Goffman

- Black Hawk Hancock, Out of Step, Out of Time: Haunted by the Loss of the World

- Paul Atkinson, An Ethnographic Sojourner

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Emilie Morwenna Whitaker is a Senior Lecturer in Social Sciences at the University of Salford, where she is also Director for Postgraduate Research. She has undertaken and led ethnographic fieldwork in health, social work, and welfare settings.

Paul Atkinson is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Cardiff University, where he served as Pro Vice-Chancellor. His recent publications include the last two books in his Ethnography quartet, Writing Ethnographically (2020) and Crafting Ethnography (2022). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and of the Learned Society of Wales.