Ethnography, space and politics

Interrogating the process of protest in the Tibetan Freedom Movement

Bibliographic Data

ID8361340
AuthorsAndrew D Davies, Andrew Davies (0009-0008-1324-3913, University of Liverpool, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume41
Issue1
Pages19-25
Publication date2009-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArea (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0004-0894 • E-ISSN: 1475-4762
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1475-4762.2008.00847.x
OpenAlexW2125237081
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited32

This paper examines the ability of ethnographic research methods to effectively study spatially extensive political activity. It argues that traditional ethnographic methods of sustained engagement with spatially bounded sites are not adequately suited to dealing with contemporary spatially extensive political movements. It argues that contemporary attempts to bridge this impasse have emphasised a dichotomy between global and local that ignores the connections, disconnections and process that occur between places. The paper argues for a critical ethnography that is based on a relational understanding of space emphasising Gillian Hart's conception of the interconnected nature of the ‘site’. Taking a single demonstration against the Beijing 2008 Olympics conducted by UK‐based Tibet supporters, it examines how the site of protest was closely linked to a variety of other places. Interrogating the processes of connection and disconnection brought about through the protest creates an ethnographic account that, while partial, develops an engagement with the heterogeneity of contemporary political action

Action (physics) · Beijing · China · Disconnection · Epistemology · Ethnography · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies