Het zakenevenement als veldwerkplek?De auteur bedankt Tessel Jonquière, Geert de Vries en Fred Wester voor commentaar op dit essay. De eerste aanzetten ervoor kwamen tot stand tijdens de colleges kwalitatieve methodologie die de auteur doceert aan de Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen.

KWALON ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joost Beuving

Business event as fieldwork site? A major methodological problem in the ethnographic study of international business elites is to make visible the social relations they draw and depend on. Business elites constitute a highly mobile social category and they mediate a growing portion of everyday social interaction via online, digital means. They are elusive, therefore, and that compromises the possibility of making direct observations of their social practices, which erodes the scope to ethnographically study this important group in the world economy. The essay shows how fieldwork on business events, such as conferences, expositions, and trade fairs, can help to overcome this problem. Such events constitute focal points and moments of crystallization in globally operating social networks, making visible a part of the international business ‘theatre’ that normally lags hidden. By presenting excerpts from recent fieldwork carried out in Belgium, Greece and the Netherlands, I give an impression of observables in this theatre, aiming especially at fostering an awareness of social behavior ‘backstage’ with a view to formulating further questions. The essay concludes with a plea to include business events as ‘field schools’ in study programs looking at international business elites, such as business schools and/or business economics.

2012 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coretta Phillips

This article explores recent concerns about the emergence of gangs in prisons in England and Wales. Using narrative interviews with male prisoners as part of an ethnographic study of ethnicity and social relations, the social meaning of ‘the gang’ inside prison is interrogated. A formally organized gang presence was categorically denied by prisoners. However, the term ‘gang’ was sometimes elided with loose collectives of prisoners who find mutual support in prison based on a neighbourhood territorial identification. Gangs were also discussed as racialized groups, most often symbolized in the motif of the ‘Muslim gang’. This racializing discourse hinted at an envy of prisoner solidarity and cohesion which upsets the idea of a universal prisoner identity. The broader conceptual, empirical and political implications of these findings are considered.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 233339361879295
Author(s):  
Oona St-Amant ◽  
Catherine Ward-Griffin ◽  
Helene Berman ◽  
Arja Vainio-Mattila

As international volunteer health work increases globally, research pertaining to the social organizations that coordinate the volunteer experience in the Global South has severely lagged. The purpose of this ethnographic study was to critically examine the social organizations within Canadian NGOs in the provision of health work in Tanzania. Multiple, concurrent data collection methods, including text analysis, participant observation and in-depth interviews were utilized. Data collection occurred in Tanzania and Canada. Neoliberalism and neocolonialism were pervasive in international volunteer health work. In this study, the social relations—“volunteer as client,” “experience as commodity,” and “free market evaluation”—coordinated the volunteer experience, whereby the volunteers became “the client” over the local community and resulting in an asymmetrical relationship. These findings illuminate the need to generate additional awareness and response related to social inequities embedded in international volunteer health work.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Ilako ◽  

Introduction. Information practices manifest differently among diverse library users, because space influences the different activities that library users engage in. Lefebvre’s spatial triad theory was used to illustrate how library spaces influence spatial activities and hence affect information behaviour of users. Method. A qualitative, ethnographic study method was applied. Participant observations and interviews with library users were conducted from May to December 2019 within Makerere University. Analysis. The data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results. Information behaviour appears as the central activity within the library spaces, within those spaces and academic and non-academic behaviour manifest as a result of user engagement within the different spaces. It was thus revealed that different attributes support users’ activities such as reading, discussionsamong users and therefore sharping their space preference. Conclusion. Space is both a physical and social object that has a direct influence on its inhabitants’ spatial activities, perceptions and experiences. The concept that space is socially constructed is empirically supported through the social relations that users create as they engage in different activities. The availability of space attributes such as enclosed spaces, noise levels, lighting and space attachment influence the spatial activities and experience of users in a positive or negative way.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (11) ◽  
pp. 1701-1712 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Grant ◽  
Nick Pollard ◽  
Peter Allmark ◽  
Kasia Machaczek ◽  
Paul Ramcharan

Author(s):  
Leonie Lockstone-Binney ◽  
Judith Mair ◽  
Tom Baum ◽  
Faith Ong

The nature of events demand uniqueness and memorability, but the specific elements of experience that produce these have not been deeply examined, particularly over the course of the event experience. Much of this relies heavily on event places and the social relations they facilitate. This research used the concept of temporary communitas and built on the Event Experience Scale (EES) through an ethnographic study of an iconic multi-day, spectator driven sporting event. Solicited participant diaries of eight friends and family who travelled to attend the 2017 Boxing Day Ashes Test in Melbourne, Australia, were collected pre, during and post-event to capture the event experience as it emerged over time. Qualitative analysis of the ethnographic accounts revealed four event experience themes (competition, emotions and atmosphere, special experience and interactions), which collectively were connected to a strong sense of temporary communitas. These themes were evident across the event cycle, providing insight into the nuances of the event experience, and highlighting the importance of understanding the social relations generated in the event place pre- and post-event. Consequently, it is suggested that revision to the existing EES instrument is required to more comprehensively assess for temporary communitas as part of the event experience. Future studies could usefully test the factor structure of the EES with and without the suggested additional temporary communitas items and compare both models on the basis of their reliability and validity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 449-470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Foroughi ◽  
Ismael Al-Amoudi

How is collective remembering inhibited by organizational changes which were not intended to manipulate it? And how does collective forgetting affect workers’ power and sense of identity? We rely on an ethnographic study of a charitable organization that went through recent organizational changes to study two processes constitutive of collective forgetting. The first process consists in the past becoming unusable because once-useful memories lost their practical usefulness for participants’ new activities. The second process consists in the past becoming uprooted because the social relations through which memories used to be shared had changed beyond recognition. Our findings provide insights into the organizational processes through which memories cease to circulate. They also help understand the complex relations between memory, power relations and participants’ sense of identity.


Author(s):  
Sri Wahyuni Harahap ◽  
Payerli Pasaribu

The purpose of this study was to find out the perceptions, impacts and barriers of communication on the social relations of Padangbolak people and Mandailing people with other tribes with the nickname of the gutgut ni halak, Padang, and the Mandailing halak for the Padangbolak people and the Mandailing people towards the nickname of the Halak Mandailing colony. To achieve this goal, this study uses a descriptive approach research method with research subjects namely Padangbolak and Mandailing people who settled in Pargarutan Julu Village, Angkola Timur sub-district, South Tapanuli district, by conducting direct observations in the field and conducting interviews determined through Purposive sampling that is to determine the informant intentionally by using the criteria set by the researcher. The results of the study show that the stereotypes are formed by social categories which are individual efforts to understand their social environment. In other words, when individuals face so many people around them, individuals will look for similarities between certain people and group them into one category. But in turn this social category actually affects the perspective of someone who has been included in the group.


2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 9-26
Author(s):  
Nina Charlotte Schiøtz ◽  
Sophie Bo Schmidt

Artiklen bygger på en undersøgelse af den sociale netværkstjeneste Facebook, som vi foretog i efteråret 2008 i forbindelse med specialeskrivning på Sociologisk Institut, KU. I nærværende artikel argumenterer vi først og fremmest for, at Aktør-Netværk-Teorien kan være et givtigt sted at starte, når vi skal forstå menneskets samspil med digitale teknologier, og vi vil fremlægge de metodiske udfordringer og muligheder, som et felt som Facebook byder på. Dernæst vil vi give en karakteristik af de nye tekno-sociale praksisser, som vi ser opstå med unges hverdagsbrug af Facebook og vise, hvordan disse praksisser betyder, at mennesker i stigende grad knyttes sammen via fornemmelsen for hinanden. Søgeord: Sociale netværkstjenester, ANT, sociologi, Facebook, digital etnografi. ENGELSK ABSTRACT: Nina Charlotte Schiøtz and Sophie Bo Schmidt: Digital Connections and New Awareness: An Ethnograhpic Study of Facebook This article explores the characteristics of the new kinds of social ties between people that are emerging with the use of Social Network Sites. The article builds on the results of an ethnographic study of young Danish Facebook users in late 2008. First we argue that Actor Network Theory is a useful strand of theory for studying technological phenomena. Then we describe two general techno-social practices that emerge from users’ engagement with Facebook. Finally, we argue that the substance of the social relations that emerges with the use of Social Network Sites is relations of awareness. This form of connectedness does not replace traditional social relations, but is rather a new dimension in the way people relate and make ties in society today. Key words: Social Network Sites, SNS, Facebook, ANT, sociology, digital ethnography.


1970 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Dwyer

Various commentators have expressed dissatisfaction at the predominant methods of analysing and preventing accidents. An ethnographic study, little used as a method for investigating industrial accident production, was carried out on a French construction site. This produced new insights into how accidents are produced. Working within an actionalist perspective a theoretical model of industrial accident production is built. This model is derived from the sociology of work, its workings are illustrated by reference to our field study and some of the literature. This model ruptures with the dominant means of analysing accident causation and of conceiving accident prevention. The article tentatively suggests that the social relations of work may become a central and profitable focus of future attempts to analyse and prevent industrial accidents.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 138-150
Author(s):  
Ganga B. Gurung

In Nepal, just as in major parts of India and some other South Asian countries, the issue of untouchability still prevails. People even now face unjust discrimination on the basis of caste. They are prohibited from visiting public places such as temples and water taps. In this article, I have investigated the dichotomy of auspiciousness and untouchability faced by the Pariyars, one of the downtrodden caste groups of Nepal, also known as Damai. The music they create, compose and play is famous throughout the country which is popularly known as the Panchai Baja and Naumati Baja and is taken as auspicious. I adopted ethnographic research methods to obtain the qualitative data through in-depth interviews, participant observations and field notes from 21 research participants who were actively engaged in music. I have analysed the social relations and cultural identity in reference to auspicious music and untouchability faced by the Damai musicians of Nepal. The findings indicate that untouchability is an outcome of cultural hegemony, caste-based hierarchy and socio-economic order, fatalism and cultural reproduction despite modernity and social and political awareness among young people. This ethnographic study throws light upon the dichotomy of auspicious and untouchability through the lived experiences of the research participants.


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