Short Abstract:

The panel explores the use of play and games in ethno- and anthropology as alternatives to dominant logocentric methods and practices. We invite researchers who creatively engage with ludic ethnographies to share insights and reflect on epistemological challenges and opportunities of this approach.

Long Abstract:

Transferring ethno- and anthropological knowledge—whether through pedagogy, museums, or other public spaces—tends to be heavily logocentric. From writing essays, and exposés as students to engaging in textual academic practice as scholars, ethnographers often adhere to practices that: a) seem to contradict the multimodal, embodied, and sensory nature of ethnographic fieldwork, and b) fail to engage with the collaborative dynamics of field communities, which frequently rely on knowledge forms beyond the written word (Kockel 2011). In the digital era, however, there is an increasing urgency to embrace new designs and multimodal approaches, encouraging more playful, interactive methods of doing ethnography (Mackie 2024).

This panel explores the use of games as a tool to encourage critical ethno- and anthropological thinking. Games offer an alternative perspective on ethnographic practice, allowing for simulations and re-enactments of a world shaped by contingencies within co-laborative settings (Dippel 2022, Petridis 2021) - as seen in Anna Tsing and Elizabeth Pollman’s “Global Futures” (2005). Unwriting our disciplines through play and games thus offers an opportunity to develop fresh, interconnected perspectives that move away from dominant, and at times distorted, approaches. 

We welcome contributions from researchers who creatively and playfully engage with their interlocutors and audiences—in classrooms, museums, and public spaces—especially those who draw from their research fields to transform perspectives and explore new modes of (un)writing embedded narratives. We are particularly interested in projects that foster co-participation in anthropological knowledge and convey the multiperspective, multisensory dimensions of ethnography.

Come, join us – and play!

This Panel has so far received 1 paper proposal(s).
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