Ethnography and Political Theory

Session Submission Type: Full Paper Panel

Session Description

Should political theorists engage in ethnography? In recent years we have seen a surge of interest in ethnography within political science – a recent symposium in PS even referenced an “ethnographic turn” (Brodkin 2017) – but what about political theory? Might theorists also benefit from an empirical method that brings researchers “closer to the people, events, processes, and institutions that the discipline seeks to understand” (Schwartz-Shea and Majic 2017, 97)? This panel brings together scholars interested in probing the potential contributions of an ethnographic sensibility to political theory, and the methodological challenges involved in combining the two approaches.

Matthew Longo and Bernardo Zacka open the discussion with a broad case for why ethnography can contribute to political theory, emphasizing how it can generate new pathways for normative inquiry, shed light on meanings and concepts, and alert us to hidden forms of harm. The other papers exemplify, nuance, and question these promises in three distinctive areas of inquiry. In a discussion of Islamic political thought, Humeira Iqtidar argues for the use of ethnography as a primary source in political theory, rather than just a supplement to textual analysis. Jennifer Rubenstein looks at the kind of evidence that is required to demonstrate the existence of a “logic of emergency”, paying particular attention to granular work involving participant observation and interviews. Finally, Yuna Blajer de la Garza demonstrates how an ethnography of “unremarkable” neighborhood meetings in Paris can reveal the multi-layered relationship between deliberative practices, national attachments and power in times of crisis.

Sub Unit

• DIVISION 2: Foundations of Political Theory

Individual Presentations

• Political Theory in an Ethnographic Key - Matthew Longo, Leiden University; Bernardo Zacka, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

• Ethnography and Normative Debates - Humeira Iqtidar, King's College London

• Beyond an Ethnographic Sensibility? Developing a Logic of Emergency Politics - Jennifer C. Rubenstein, University of Virginia

• Seemingly Unremarkable: Democratic Deliberation in the Neighborhoods of Paris - Yuna Blajer de la Garza, Stanford University

Chair

• Lisa Wedeen University of Chicago

Discussants

• Adrian Blau King's College London

• Signy Thora Gutnick Allen London School of Economics