Paper short abstract:

Starting with the results of an ethnographic fieldwork into the practice of graffiti trainwriting in Europe, this paper delves into the methodological and ethical issues involved in studying the criminalized activities of trainwriters, exploring both their risky behaviors and daily lives.

Paper long abstract:

This paper delves into ethnographic challenges in studying the criminalized activities of graffiti trainwriters, exploring both their risky behaviors and daily lives. Despite the undeniable academic contributions of such studies since the 1920s, especially through the Chicago School's pioneering works, they present significant challenges for ethnographers from both a methodological and an ethical point of view. Focusing on observing transgressive actions of young individuals engaged in illegal practices, the paper examines the dangers of closely following them along the off-piste path of the railway network. It draws on ethnographic 'all-terrain fieldwork' conducted in Europe from 2009 to 2015, specifically investigating the spatiality of 'translocational' circulations among young men based in Switzerland but networked well beyond the borders of their country of residence. The paper highlights emerging protective measures developed during the fieldwork to protect my research from the various types of danger identified at one point or another during the course of my fieldwork. Additionally, and given the current context of institutionalization of questions of professional ethics, the methodological and ethical considerations taken into account in this paper seek to open up avenues of reflection on the conditions of implementation of ethnographic practice and, more particularly, of sensitive fieldwork nowadays.