- Convenors:
-
Catherine O'Brien
(University of Oxford)
Laura Bergin (The University of Oxford)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Sessions:
- Tuesday 7 March, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
Digital ethnographic methods have become increasingly pervasive during the pandemic. This panel seeks to question whether this trend will continue, weigh the benefits of in-person, digital, and hybrid research, and question the future of anthropological research.
Long Abstract:
There has been a long legacy of anthropologists undertaking lengthy physically-situated fieldwork. However, the pandemic wrought an increased necessity and demand for digital ethnography. This approach afforded access while physical research was not possible and increased awareness of the abundance of social and material interactions in online and hybrid spaces, contributing to the literature in digital anthropology.
This panel seeks to question whether ethnography can ever be conducted in purely digital or terrestrial ways given the increasingly hybrid lives we and our participants lead. What social, phenomenological, or sensory access is lost or gained through limiting research methods to solely in-person or digital ethnography?
Does digital or hybrid ethnography offer any solutions to issues of accessibility or promote inclusivity by enabling researchers to conduct research at a distance without having to spend extended periods of time away from dependents and support networks?
In a post-pandemic world, is solely digital research a legitimate form of anthropology, or does it stray too far from the legacies of the ethnographic tradition?
As a result of the pandemic, many anthropologists have become well versed in digital methods or have been trained solely using digital means. As the world re-opens and the possibilities for in-person ethnography expand, will the prevalence of digital ethnography continue to prosper? For early career academics and doctoral students who have undergone significant training and exposure to these methods, will this focus remain as their careers progress?
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Tuesday 7 March, 2023, -Peyton Cherry (University of Oxford)
Paper short abstract:
For anthropologists hoping commencing fieldwork in Japan in 2020, digital ethnography was the only option. This paper considers the impact digital research will have on intimate topics of anthropology in Japan, as virtual possibilities in Japan develop for researchers, teachers, and activists alike.
Paper long abstract:
Japan’s digital possibilities are endless, especially in urban centres like Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe. And fortunately for many, both living in Japan and connecting overseas, some virtual and hybrid events remain in place. This offers an additional layer of accessibility in school and work settings. But this paper also asks whether digital ethnographic methods can offer an in-roads to intimate encounters ‘in the field’ in places like Japan.
When it comes to research on intimate and typically private topics like marriage, divorce, sex, and sexuality, can digital methods be as or even more expansive than in-person encounters? Can they reach people or places that would otherwise be lost amid the crowds in Shinjuku or Shibuya neighborhoods?
What about in high-context cultures like Japan’s where indirect wording and keeping ‘sexual’ topics to private spaces is more common? How can anthropologists adopt and combine digital methods to make sensitive conversations more comfortable for everyone involved?
Combining my own fieldwork on sexual harassment and consent narratives among university students with a look into online methods as pedagogical tools in Japanese education, I hope to demonstrate that the virtual does not lack intimacy as some may believe. It is all a matter of perspective. And for youth in Japan, it may be much easier to share personal stories and opinions behind the screen than in front of it.
William Kelly (University of Oxford)
Paper short abstract:
Drawing on more than a decade of experience in research and teaching at the interface of Anthropology and the digital, this paper reflects on the past, present and future potentialities for constructive engagement between Anthropology and digitally-mediated forms of association and interaction.
Paper long abstract:
The ongoing development and proliferation of digital communication and social networking technologies is providing new platforms, forums and other cyber-mediated environments for discussion, interaction and association of all kinds online, yielding new opportunities for researchers in the Anthropology and the social sciences. This trend has been greatly accelerated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which online interaction became, for many, the only viable option. Pandemic restrictions rendered conventional forms of participatory research, including long-term ethnographic research, based on participant-observation, virtually impossible, prompting many Anthropologists and other social scientists to explore alternative options for pursuing their research remotely, via digital technologies.
Drawing on more than a decade’s experience of exploring the potential of digital research methods in Anthropology and of ethnographic research methods in the context of digitally-mediated environments, this paper reflects on future potentialities at the interface of Anthropology and the digital, referencing wider discussions in Anthropology related to “situating research”.
Ellen Lapper
Paper short abstract:
This presentation unpicks digital ethnographic methods used whilst conducting fieldwork on "digital deaths" online. By transparently detailing my methodology, it aims to contribute to an honest and extensive debate on processes, challenges, and the future of research collaboration.
Paper long abstract:
At a time in which the deaths of celebrities quickly become hashtags on Twitter, we all have to face the question of what happens to our own digital afterlives, as well as those of our loved ones. This presentation unpicks digital ethnographic methods used whilst conducting ongoing fieldwork online on “digital deaths”. Here, the latter refers to the digital afterlife, what happens to our online traces and social media profiles after we pass away, and how the advent of social media has changed our relationship with death and grieving. Even prior to Covid-19’s impact, which forced many research projects online, anthropological studies into death and grief via the Internet were facing new challenges, both to explore as a researcher and to reflect on methodologically. These include omnipresent online traces, ethical algorithms, shifting presentations of the self, data storage of (deceased) users’ assets, and an online field-site. By transparently detailing my research methodology with Facebook and Instagram users who have suffered a loss, this presentation contributes to an honest and extensive debate on processes, challenges, and the future of research collaboration. It draws from physically-situated ethnographies to ask whether a methodology rooted in shared anthropology (Rouch 1995) is possible digitally or at what point an in-person element is necessary, especially concerning sensitive and often-tabooed topics. The research goal is a visual accompaniment, one which has, to date, only been possible in auto-ethnographic form. How possible is collaborative filmmaking online? Accordingly, this presentation is interested in discussing these aspects together.