Whose home is it anyway? Performing multiple selves while doing organizational ethnography

Bibliographic Data

ID2247109
AuthorsBoukje Cnossen (0000-0003-3739-0308, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume7
Issue2
Pages176-185
Publication date2018-06-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Organizational Ethnography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2046-6749 • E-ISSN: 2046-6757
PublisherEmerald (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1108/joe-12-2017-0068
OpenAlexW2801599481
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited15

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to nuance the idea of natural access proposed by Mats Alvesson in his description of at-home ethnography, and to offer a performative view of Alvesson's suggestion that, in at-home ethnography, the ethnographer must work with "the processual nature of the researcher's self." Design/methodology/approach The author offers a reflection on the several years of ethnographic research the author conducted, of which some parts were done in a living community of which the author was part. Being literally at home, as well as being very familiar in the other research settings the author describes, allows for a critical reflection on what "at-homeness" means. Findings Using Butler's notion of performativity, the author argues that "the processual nature of the researcher's self" Alvesson speaks of, can best be understood as multiple selves, of which some emerge during the research process. The author furthermore problematizes Alvesson's use of the term "natural access," by arguing that this kind of access is neither easy, nor devoid of power relations. Originality/value This paper uses an experience of conducting research in the home, as well as an experience conducting research in a setting where the researcher arguably blent in well, to question what the "at-home" in at-home ethnography means, and how the researcher can deal with it

Aesthetics · Autoethnography · Epistemology · Ethnography · Natural (archaeology · Originality · Performative utterance · Performativity · Power (physics · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Anthropology · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Management and Organizational Studies · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Philosophy · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics

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