Investigative Ethnography

A Spatial Approach to Economies of Violence

Bibliographic Data

ID4489092
AuthorsTeo Ballvé (0000-0003-4645-2865, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume110
Issue1-2
Pages238-251
Publication date2020-01-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeographical Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0016-7428 • E-ISSN: 1931-0846
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/gere.12347
OpenAlexW2917961155
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited28

Based on research in Colombia, this article argues that violent economic situations in specific spaces can be productively studied through a hybrid style of research that combines techniques of investigative journalism with the conceptual and methodological commitments of ethnographic inquiry. “Investigative ethnography,” as this marriage of epistemologies and methods could be called, can help researchers manage the practical problems of access—meaning access to people, sites, and information—within the spaces produced by violent forms of capital accumulation. Questions of space and spatiality are central to investigative ethnography’s approach to these violent economic ensembles. Although oriented toward research on the systematic use of force for profit, this article’s methodological considerations and practical recommendations are also relevant for scholars conducting fieldwork in other kinds of violent spaces and difficult settings

Epistemology · Ethnography · Meaning (existential · Social science · Sociology · Space (punctuation) · Anthropology · Computer Science · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Global Security and Public Health · History and Politics in Latin America

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