Paper short abstract:

In this paper I consider if a distinction between analysis and politics can be artificially created within a particular stage of the research process, and what are the benefits and dangers of doing so. I argue that analytical greenhousing is particularly important for the anthropology of Britain.

Paper long abstract:

While Roger Brubaker and Frederick Cooper (2000), as well as Ghassan Hage (2010), maintain the difference between analytical and political goals in social sciences, Sara Ahmed (2017), among others, argues that there is no theory which is not political. In this paper I consider if a distinction between academic analysis and politics can be artificially created within a particular stage of the research process, and what are the benefits and dangers of doing so. A greenhouse is a climate-controlled structure designed to protect tender plants. Could emotionally-charged ethnographic material on “migration”, “Brexit” or “racism” benefit from analytical greenhousing before it is exposed to its political implications? What would greenhousing entail or look like? I will elaborate on this idea by discussing my experience in developing ethnographic research in Thanet, Southeast England, while also working for a UK university. I argue that analytical greenhousing is particularly important for the anthropology of Britain.