Problems and Possibilities in Multi-sited Ethnography
Date: 27th - 28th June 2005
Venue: University of Sussex
It is now 10 year since Marcus published his cornerstone text arguing for the adoption of multi-sited approaches in ethnography, which contrast with earlier practices in which anthropologists and others conducting ethnography endeavored to find a single 'site'. This offered a label, rationale and coherence to research practices that many anthropologist had already been developing to address their subject which crosses cultural and political worlds. Yet while multi-sited approaches are easy to imagine, they are hard to practice well. Many doctoral students have been attracted to the approaches as they offer interesting ways to engage with current policy and social questions linked to globalisation. They often receive funding because they are interesting and innovative. Yet the practical and funding difficulties, the need to acquire the confidence of informants in many different social worlds, and the ethical dilemmas that such research leads to present huge challenges. Has the ability to work on interesting questions come at the expense of research quality and validity? How has this shift altered research practice in less well resourced contexts (e.g. in Africa and South Asia). A major concern will be how techniques used more usually within comparative research can complement ethnographic research and help to resolve some of these issues, and vice versa how can ethnographic techniques complement large scale comparative research, especially in contexts where survey data is problematic. Other disciplines (political science, media studies, cultural studies) have increasingly turned to 'ethnographic' approaches, premised on those that have been developed in anthropology. How has the shift to multi-sited ethnographic approaches been conducted and received in these disciplines? What effect has this methodological shift had on the distinctiveness of social anthropology, and on its interdisciplinary engagement.
Speakers
| John Holmwood |
Sussex University |
| Simon Coleman | Sussex University |
| George Marcus | Rice University, Texas |
| Ester Gallo | University of Sienna |
| Bruno Riccio | University of Bologna |
| Kanwal Mand | South Bank University |
Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers |
|
| Colin Samson | Essex University |
| Kathryn Tomlinson | Sussex University |
| Michael Whyte | University of Copenhagen |
| Ingie Hovland | SOAS |
| Raymond Apthorpe | SOAS |
| Dinah Rajak | University of Sussex |
| Sahra Gibbon | University College London |
| Dave Randall | Manchester Metropolitan |
| Michael Hales | SPRU, Sussex |
| Kaushik Sunder Rajan | University of California, Irvine |
| Werner Krauss | University of Hamburg |
| James Ferguson | Stanford University |
| Michael Whyte | |
| James Fairhead |
Course Outline (Programme)
Monday 27th June
| 9:00 - 9:50am | Registration and coffee |
| 9:50 - 11:00am | Opening Plenary Session Welcoming addresses: John Holmwood (Sussex University), Simon Coleman (Sussex University) |
| 11:00 - 11:15am | Coffee |
| 11:15 - 13:00pm | Panel 1: Transnationalism Problems and possibilities of researching kinship in a transnational context/perspective. An ethnographic experience between Italy and Kerala, South India Ester Gallo (University of Sienna) Exploring Senegalese translocal spaces. Reflections on a multi-sited research Bruno Riccio (University of Bologna) Reflections on the use of multi sites for research on transnational lives Kanwal Mand (South Bank University) |
| 13:00 - 14:00pm | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 15:45pm | Panel 2: Researching Rights Following the Plot: Narratives of Albanian Customary Law in Transnational Legal Encounters Stephanie Schwandner-Sievers Land, Health and Life: The Survival of Indigenous Communities in the 21st Century Colin Samson (Essex University) Multi-sited ethnography or multi-sited anthropology? Reflections on researching indigenous rights in Venezuela Kathryn Tomlinson (Sussex University) |
| 15:45 - 16:00pm | Coffee |
| 16:00 - 17:45pm | Panel 3: Development Policy Understanding HIV/AIDS in Uganda: a Question of Sites and Positions Michael Whyte (University of Copenhagen) 'What do you call the heathen these days?' The policy field and other matters of the heart in the Norwegian Mission Society Ingie Hovland (SOAS) Being multi-sitedly based as a researcher: good for multi-sightedness? Raymond Apthorpe |
| 20:00pm | Conference Dinner Venue: Quod, Brighton |
Tuesday 28th June
| 9:00 - 10:45am | Panel 4: Multinational Organisations From boardrooms to mine shafts: researching the Anglo American corporation Dinah Rajak (University of Sussex) A New Skin for the Old Ceremony: On Multi-Sited Ethnography and Analytic Purpose Dave Randall (Manchester Metropolitan) In the field with designers and in the field with economists - Ground-truthing economists' models of organisation and innovation Michael Hales (SPRU, Sussex) |
| 10:45 - 11:00am | Coffee |
| 11:00 - 12:45pm | Panel 1: Science and Technology Specters of Marcus: Lively Capital, the Work of Friendship, and 'New' Objects of Ethnographic Interest Kaushik Sunder Rajan (University of California, Irvine) Travelling with Genes; filming interdisciplinarity Sahra Gibbon (University College London) Migratory birds and migratory scientists: multi-sited ethnography of a contested coastal landscape (Northern Germany) Werner Krauss (University of Hamburg) |
| 12:45 - 14:00pm | Lunch |
| 14:00 - 15:45pm | Roundtable discussion Keynote address: James Ferguson (Stanford University) |
| 15:45 - 16:00pm | Coffee |
Location
The seminar will be held at:
IDS Room 121
University of Sussex
Duration
Monday 9:00am - 5:45pm
Tuesday 09:00am – 4:00pm
Contact
Email:j.holmwood@sussex.ac.uk