Citation

van Dooremalen T. Ethnography 2017; 18(3): 415-424.

Affiliation

University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1466138117709293

PMID

29081715

PMCID

PMC5646475

Abstract

Events (remarkable, disruptive happenings) are important subjects of study for understanding processes of change. In this essay, I reflect upon the issue of what the ethnographic method has to offer for the analysis of this social phenomenon. To do so, I review three recently published ethnographic studies of events. My conclusion is that it is indeed a very useful method for understanding the feelings and ideas of people who are experiencing eventful situations, for instance around protests or natural disasters. However, using this method also brings about practical difficulties, such as the 'luck' that an event occurs at the ethnographic fieldwork site. Next, as transformative responses to events are not bound by the place or time of the happening, other methods (interviews, discourse analysis, surveys) that make it easier to follow them in varying locations and periods might be more suitable for getting a comprehensive picture of their meaning-making dynamics.

Language: en

Keywords

ethnography; events; fieldwork; protest; social change