Feminist Ethnography: Thinking Through Methodologies, Challenges, and Possibilities

Feminist Ethnography, Second Edition, is an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural introduction to the methods, challenges, and possibilities of feminist ethnography. Dána-Ain Davis and Christa Craven use a problem-based approach-focused on inquiry and investigation-to present a feminist framework for thinking critically about how we document everyday experiences. The book begins with an introduction to feminist perspectives, their meanings over time, and a brief history of feminist ethnography. Then the authors examine feminist methodologies, answering the question, how does one do feminist ethnography, and investigates common challenges such as ethical dilemmas and logistical constraints faced during fieldwork. Finally, Davis and Craven discuss what it means to be a feminist activist ethnographer, including advocacy efforts and engagement with public policy, and ask students to consider: what is your vision for the future of feminist ethnography? New to this Edition: Six new interviews with feminist ethnographers include reflections on the intersections of trans studies, disability studies, and the Cite Black Women movement New section on safety, accessibility, and fieldwork to address the risks all ethnographers face, but in particular those who challenge long-held assumptions that ethnographers are (all) white, Western, able-bodied, well-funded, cisgender, and usually male Enhanced discussion of virtual ethnography in the wake of COVID-19Added content on transgender/nonbinary experiences and disability studies

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments xiii Preface to the Second Edition xv About the Authors xix Timeline xxi Introduction 1 Thinking Through This Text 3 Unique Features of This Book 4 1 What Is the “Feminist” in Feminist Ethnography? 7 Spotlight: Zenzele Isoke on Feminist Concepts 8 What Is Feminist Ethnography? 9 Spotlight: Dyese Osaze on Meaningful Ethnography 12 Essential: Commentary on Doing Feminist Ethnography by Rosemarie A. Roberts 13 Spotlight: Scott L. Morgensen on the Influence of Feminist Ethnography 15 What Contributed to the History of Feminisms? 15 Reconsidering “The Waves” 15 The Time of Suffrage 17 Essential: A Portion of the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments, July 19, 1848 17 Radical Movement Building 19 Expanding a Feminist Legacy 22 Thinking Through . . . Foremothers of Feminism 23 How Are Feminist Perspectives Categorized? 24 Spotlight: Gayle Rubin's Influence 26 Essential: Excerpt from the Combahee River Collective Statement 28 Essential: Excerpt from “Under Western Eyes Revisited” by Chandra Talpade Mohanty 30 Thinking Through . . . Feminisms 31 Conclusion 31 Thinking Through . . . Feminist Perspectives and Key Texts 32 2 Historicizing Feminist Ethnography 35 Who Were Some of the Early Contributors to Feminist Ethnography? 36 Essential: Excerpt from The Omaha Tribe by Alice Fletcher and Francis LaFlesche 37 How Did Feminist Ethnography Mature between the 1920s and 1960s? 40 Essential: Excerpt from Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston 41 What Impact Did the Women's Movement of the 1960s Have on the Next Phase of Feminist Ethnographic Production? (1960s–1980s) 42 Thinking Through . . . Restudying Culture 43 Spotlight: Florence Babb on the Impact of Woman, Culture, and Society and Toward an Anthropology of Women 44 Essential: Excerpt from “Too Queer for College” by Esther Newton 46 Spotlight: Louise Lamphere on the Legacy of Lamphere v. Brown 48 Thinking Through . . . Faculty Composition at Your Institution 50 What Interventions Came Out of Feminist Ethnography from the 1990s Through the Present? 50 Essential: Excerpt from “Methodological Gifts in Latina/o Studies and Feminist Anthropology” by Gina Pérez 52 Spotlight: C. Riley Snorton on Feminist Anthropology and Trans Studies 55 Spotlight: Lee Baker on Feminist Histories 57 Conclusion 58 Thinking Through . . . Critiques and Reviews of an Ethnography 58 3 Debates and Interventions in Feminist Ethnography 61 Who Should Be Claimed as a Feminist Ethnographer? 62 Essential: Excerpt from Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith 63 Can There Be a Feminist Ethnography? 64 Essential: Excerpt from “Can There Be a Feminist Ethnography?” by Judith Stacey 65 Essential: Excerpt from Feminism and Method by Nancy A. Naples 68 How Have Feminist Ethnographers Approached the Insider/Outsider Dilemma? 69 Essential: Excerpt from “Feminist Insider Dilemmas” by Patricia Zavella 70 Spotlight: Shannon Speed on Fieldwork and Identity 72 What Is the Role of Citational Politics in Feminist Ethnography? 75 Spotlight / Essential: Christen A. Smith on Citing Black Women 76 Essential: Excerpt from “Making Feminist Points,” on the feministkilljoys Blog by Sara Ahmed 80 Thinking Through . . . An Intellectual Genealogy 81 Can an Ethnographer's Personal Experience Be a Part of a Study? 81 Spotlight: Laura Mauldin on the Impact of Life Experiences 82 How Involved or Engaged Should a Feminist Ethnographer Be? 84 Spotlight: Brenna McCaffrey on the Political Stakes of Feminist Ethnography 85 Spotlight: Mary L. Gray on the Labor of Feminist Ethnography 86 Conclusion 88 Thinking Through . . . What Would a Feminist Ethnographer Do? 88 4 How Does One Do Feminist Ethnography? 91 Essential: Excerpt from “Feminist Methodology . . .” by Faye V. Harrison 92 How Should a Feminist Ethnographer Choose a Topic? 94 Spotlight: Elisabeth Engebretsen on Choosing Methods and Shifting Knowledge 95 What Methods Have Been Useful to Feminist Ethnographers? 97 Participant-Observation 98 Essential: Excerpt from Queer Activism in India by Naisargi Dave 99 Ethnographic Interviewing 100 Spotlight: Class of 2021 Undergraduates on Fieldwork during a Pandemic 102 Oral History/Life History 106 Spotlight: Tracy Fisher on Using Oral/Life History to Address Feminist Ethnographic Questions 106 Survey 108 Analysis of Cultural Material 109 Social Media Research 110 Ethnohistory 113 Spotlight: Whitney Battle-Baptiste on Historical Archaeology and Literary Fiction 114 Participatory Research 115 Essential: Excerpt from “Photovoice” by Caroline C. Wang and Mary Ann Burris 116 Interpretive Communities 118 Conclusion 119 Thinking Through . . . Three Options to Explore Methodological Possibilities 120 Thinking Through . . . Word Cloud Magic! 120 5 Challenges for Feminist Ethnographers 123 Spotlight: Elizabeth Chin on Envisioning a Feminist IRB Process 125 What Logistical Constraints Arise in Feminist Ethnographic Research? 126 Essential: Excerpt from “Following as Method” in Mobile Subjects: Transnational Imaginaries of Gender Reassignment by Aren Z. Aizura 128 Essential: Excerpt from “Cast among Outcastes” by Delores Walters 131 Essential: Excerpt from “Toward a Fugitive Anthropology: Gender, Race, and Violence in the Field,” by Maya J. Berry, Claudia Chávez Argüelles, Shanya Cordis, Sarah Ihmoud, Elizabeth Velásquez Estrada 134 How Do Ethical Concerns Shape the Research Encounter? 136 Thinking Through . . . Difficult Ethnographic Experiences 137 Spotlight: Loretta J. Ross on Working with Former Skinhead White Supremacists 138 Spotlight: Tanya Erzen on the Politics of Reciprocity and Mediation 141 How Can We Assess the (Potential) Impacts of Feminist Ethnography? 144 Spotlight: Kiersten Downs on “Feminist Curiosity” and Stamina 144 Spotlight: Sandra Morgen on Movement Building 146 Thinking Through . . . Ethical Dilemmas 148 Conclusion 148 6 Producing Feminist Ethnography 151 How Does One Write Feminist Ethnography? 152 Essential: Excerpt from Alive in the Writing by Kirin Narayan 156 Essential: Excerpt from Progressive Dystopia: Abolition, Antiblackness and Schooling in San Francisco by Savannah Shange 157 Essential: Excerpt from Playing with Fire by the Sangtin Writers Collective and Richa Nagar 160 What Creative Possibilities Exist for Writing and Circulating Feminist Ethnography? 161 Spotlight: Asale Angel-Ajani on Writing (Without Swagger) 162 Fiction 163 Essential: Excerpt from A World of Babies by Judy DeLoache and Alma Gottlieb 164 Parallel Writing 165 Autoethnography and Ethnographic Memoir 166 Essential: Excerpt from Downtown Ladies, “My Jelly Platform Shoes” by Gina Athena Ulysse 167 Thinking Through . . . Citational Politics, Revisited in the Age of #MeToo 170 How Can We Make Feminist Ethnography Publicly Accessible? 170 Spotlight: Harjant Gill on Film as a Powerful Feminist Medium 172 How Do Feminist Ethnographers Engage in Creative and Artistic Projects? 175 Thinking Through . . . Experimental Design 176 Conclusion 177 Thinking Through . . . Developing Creative Ethnography 178 7 Feminist Activist Ethnography 181 What Does It Mean to Be a Feminist Activist Ethnographer? 183 Thinking Through . . . Engaging in Public Scholarship 185 What Should Feminist Activist Ethnography Seek to Accomplish? 185 Essential: Excerpt from “Water Is Life-Meters Out!” by Susan Brin Hyatt 186 Is Feminist Ethnography Inherently Activist? 187 What Forms Can Feminist Activist Ethnography Take? 189 Essential: Excerpt from Black Autonomy: Race, Gender, and Afro-Nicaraguan Activism by Jennifer Goett 190 Collaboration and Participatory Action Research 190 Essential: Excerpt from “Makes Me Mad! Stereotypes of Young Urban Womyn of Color” by the Fed Up Honeys 191 Social Media and Film 194 Spotlight: Tom Boellstorff on New Technologies and Activism 194 Thinking Through . . . Working with Activists 196 Spotlight: Michelle Téllez on Activism Through Storytelling in Visual Media 196 Serving as an Interlocutor 197 Essential: Excerpt from “Introduction: Comparative Perspectives on the Indigenous Rights Movement in Africa and the Americas” by Dorothy Hodgson 198 How Can Feminist Activist Ethnographers Reflect upon Our Practice? 199 Spotlight: Leith Mullings on Keeping Feminist Ethnography Meaningful 201 Conclusion 201 8 Thinking Through the Futures of Feminist Ethnography 205 Glossary 209 Bibliography 213 Index 231

About the Author :
Dána-Ain Davis is professor of urban studies and anthropology at Queens College and Graduate Center, City University of New York, and directs the Center for the Study of Women and Society at the Graduate Center. Christa Craven is a professor of anthropology and women's, gender, and sexuality studies at the College of Wooster, and the co-founder of the Global Queer Studies minor.

Review :
I was so excited when the 1st edition of Feminist Ethnography was released that I created a Feminist Ethnography course at Spelman College that I have now taught four times since Spring 2016. Every semester, my students are incredibly enthusiastic about the book. They were very engaged with the material and inspired by the careful attention that the authors paid to ethical dilemmas and the role of activism in research. I am even more excited to teach the second edition of Feminist Ethnography, which includes more of a focus on social media, digital humanities, and a reflection on current social movements and struggles, and cites the latest cutting-edge scholarship in feminist ethnography. This text is a guidebook, a blueprint, and perhaps even a "Bible" for students and scholars who seek to do engaged, activist-oriented, feminist ethnographic research that will make a difference in the world. Feminism is not one thing; ethnography is never static. Putting these together, the praxis of this text shows the power of working in community through a feminist lens to make research, theory and the world simultaneously better. This thorough examination of the thing called feminist ethnography paired with the multivocal examples that jump off these pages to give life to this rich, ethical practice show us why we continue to urgently need more feminisms. This book is essential for any feminist student-researcher or aspiring ethnographer. The latest edition is especially helpful for its informative explanations of terms, their politics, and how to use them.