Critical Ethnography 2/e

D. Soyini Madison is professor of Performance Studies and Anthropology, and served as Interim Director of the Program in African Studies at Northwestern University. She is the author of Acts of Activism: Human Rights as Radical Performance (2010, Cambridge UP) and the co-editor with Judith Hamera of the SAGE Handbook of Performance Studies (2006, SAGE). Madison lived in West Africa as a Senior Fulbright Scholar and has conducted field research over the past ten years on the performance tactics of local human rights activists in Ghana.

1. Introduction to Critical Ethnography: Theory and Method Defining Terms: What Is the Critical in Critical Ethnography Dialogue and Others The Method and Theory Nexus Summary Warm-Ups 2. Methods: "Do I Really Need a Method?" A Method . . . or Deep Hanging Out? "Who Am I?" Starting Where You Are "Who Else Has Written About My Topic?" Being Part of an Interpretive Community The Power of Purpose: Bracketing Your Subject Preparing for the Field: The Research Design and Lay Summary Interviewing and Field Techniques Formulating Questions Two Classic Models Extra Tips for Formulating Questions Memory and the Oral History Interview Attributes of the Interviewer and Building Rapport Coding and Logging Data Summary Warm-Ups 3. Three Stories: Case Studies in Critical Ethnography Case 1: Local Activism in West Africa Case 2: Secrets, Sexuality, and Oral History Case 3: Community Theatre: Conflicts and Organization Warm-Ups 4. Ethics Ethics Is . . Religion and Ethics The Question of Freedom Critical Ethnography and the Ethics of Reason, the Greater Good, and Others Maria Lugones: Contemporary Ethics, Ethnography, and Loving Perception Summary Warm-Ups 5. Methods and Ethics Codes of Ethics for Fieldwork Extending the Codes Warm-Ups 6. Methods and Application: Three Case Studies in Ethical Dilemmas Case 1: Local Activism in West Africa Case 2: Secrets of Sexuality, and Oral History Case 3: Community Theatre: Conflicts and Organization Warm-Ups 7. Performance Ethnography Foundational Concepts in Performance and Social Theory The Performance Interventions of Dwight Conquergood Staging Ethnography and the Performance of Possibilities AutoEthnography and/or Reflexive Ethnography Three Examples of Critical Reflexivity in Autoethnography Warm-Ups 8. It's Time to Write: Writing as Performance Getting Started: In Search of the Muse The Anxiety of Writing: Wild Mind and Monkey Mind Writing as Performance and Performance as Writing Warm-Ups 9. The Case Studies Case 1: Staging Cultural Performance Case 2: Oral History and Performance Case 3: The Fieldwork of Social Drama and Communitas Warm-Ups

"Critical Ethnography is a passionate, wise, and wonderful book - even more commanding and evocative in its second edition, which adds new research examples, emerging moments in critical autoethnographies, and perfomative writing. In Madison's vision, doing fieldwork seeps into and stretches out the lived world that we inhabit with others, a world where our studies make a difference to do more - or less -- good for participants. She tells rich and layered stories as case studies of the bodies and dialogues and situations that anchor theoretical options, ethical choices, and consequential actions. This accessible and eminently teachable text presents pragmatic advice at the same time it probes complex dilemmas in doing critical ethnography. It does not offer simple solutions and easy exits but neither does it overwhelm and paralyze. Especially, it inspires possibilities for researching, writing, and performing ethnographic knowledge that can make a better world for all. Read it if you're new to ethnography; read it if you're seasoned. It can make a difference." -- Kristen Langellier