Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key

• In Event: Ethnography and Political Theory

Abstract

In this paper we assess a recent surge of interest in ethnography amongst political theorists and explain why it is a good thing. We focus in particular on how ethnographic research generates what Ian Shapiro calls “problematizing redescriptions” (2002, 598)—accounts of political phenomena that destabilize the lens through which we traditionally study them, engendering novel questions and exposing new avenues of moral concern. Through sustained immersion in an institutional setting, ethnography (1) reveals new levels of variation and contingency within institutions; (2) sheds light on meanings inherent to those institutions; and (3) captures the experience of individuals interacting therein. The purchase for political theory is considerable. By thickening our understanding of institutions, ethnography serves as an antidote to analytic specialization and broadens the range of questions political theorists can ask, reinvigorating debates in the subfield and forging connections with the discipline writ large.

Authors

• Matthew Longo, Leiden University

• Bernardo Zacka, Massachusetts Institute of Technology