This laboratory is part of EASA's 16th biennial conference (20-24 July 2020). We will reflect on 'movement' as a method to study both motion-related and other topics. Drawing on virtual walking tours, among others, this lab engages with the (dis)advantages of movement, physical as well as imagined, as a fieldwork method.
Movement, as a method, can be fruitfully employed to study both motion-related and unrelated topics. Drawing on experiences with walking, running and martial arts, but not limited to these examples, this lab engages actively with the (dis)advantages of movement as a method in anthropological praxis.
Practices of movement can be used to study both motion-related and unrelated topics. Moving during fieldwork is most commonly understood as a method of immersive ethnography in which the object and subject of research are congruent. This is often the case with sports, for example, which are researched by doing an apprenticeship ethnography in which the anthropologist learns how to perform the sporting culture under study. However, movement can also be used as a useful method of inquiry for topics not directly related to mobility. Long-distance running, for instance, has been employed to research difficult-to-reach rural areas and to establish initial contact with people living there. How can practices of movement help us to conduct better anthropological research? Partaking from movement forms such as walking, running, and martial arts, this laboratory will engage with the (dis)advantages of employing movement in anthropological praxis. To do so, we will engage with different aspects of anthropological research, such as (1) the gathering and analysis of ethnographic data 'in motion', (2) the use of visual methods in mobile research and (3) the role of movement at the writing stage. Through exercises, discussion and reflection we want to get a more embodied and emplaced understanding of the underestimated connections between anthropology and mobility. Participants (max. 30) will have to pre-register under "registration." Additional preparatory material will be shared before the lab.
Convenors:
Noel B. Salazar (KU Leuven)
Raphael Schapira (Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies)
Eilis Lanclus (KU Leuven)
Contact:
mobethno@gmail.com
Embodied research is built on the premise to actively use one’s body as an instrument for research purposes (Wacquant 2015). In apprenticeship ethnography, the ethnographer immerses him or herself into the task at hand to get a visceral understanding of it (Palsson 1994). While much has been written on the role of subjectivity and experience in ethnography (Pink 2009), data gathering in motion remains experimental. Which strategies can we employ to generate/record data with and without technical devices while we are busy moving around? This part of the lab serves to share ideas and best practices regarding the methods of data gathering with or without technical devices like body memory (Skinner 2010), immersion (Wacquant 2004), apprenticeship (Grasseni 2004), or “shadowing” (Jirón 2011) to reach a “double transparency” that studies and describes mobilities reflecting simultaneously on the employed methods (Büscher, Urry, and Witchger 2011).
Visual ethnography has been widely used in anthropological research (Pink, 2007a, 2007b; Salazar et al., 2017; Simpson, 2014). Büscher et al. (2017) emphasize that it “requires mobility in the form of ‘anticipatory following’” (p.9). This is less applicable when you wear an action camera, such as a GoPro. This type of camera allows to easily record Point of View action whilst moving. It was made in the context of extreme sports, but is also well-suited for mobile video ethnography in other contexts. It provides the researcher with an embodied and emplaced perspective and it “demands physical movement by its carrier and subjects” (Vannini & Stewart, 2017, p. 5). In this laboratory I want to focus on the practical use of the GoPro in ethnographic research, its advantages and disadvantages, and the challenges that you might face when making use of the GoPro. I will focus on visual material that is made by the researcher and not the participant.
We usually associate the writing phase of research with desk work. However, good ethnographic writing is also creative and, to be honest, sparks of creativity are rarely generated while seated long hours staring at a screen, except, maybe when ‘in movement’ (e.g. on a train). No wonder many of the most creative people actively ‘move’ to think (Curry 2013). It is precisely wandering that facilitates wondering (Anthamatten 2012). The act of walking, for example, imposes a trace that can be mapped across both time and space (Ingold & Vergunst 2008), revealing a common heritage (Coverley 2012). However, an understanding of moving-for-thinking specifically for intellectual work purposes (not leisure or fitness) from the point of view of practitioners themselves is still lacking (Keinänen 2015). This part of the lab serves to fill that gap.