Those who hate us? Using self-reflexive situating as an ethnographic way of studying contentious topics online

• In Event: 20209 - Flesh and Blood Sociology: Ethnographic Practice Today

Abstract

In this paper, I ask how we can ethnographically study those who might hate us. Or put in more ethnographic terms: How can we ethnographically study morally contentious subjects online in a way where our conclusions may hold validity to both sides of the line of contention, when our positionality is not reflected back to us via the reactions of the research participants? Existing approaches would suggest either sticking to non-situated research strategies, or inversely, radically situated strategies. However, in this article, I will argue that both fall short. Instead, I introduce the concept of self-reflexive situating as a synthesis of the non-situated approach of hate speech, and the radically situated approach of extreme speech.
To build this argument, I draw on my participation in an 18-month long multi-researcher netnography into online hateful subcultures, totaling 103 different groups and forums.
The first case deals with the question of what part of reality we want to convert into analyzable data. The second case deals with the issue of changing sensitizations in longitudinal studies, which I call researcher reactivity. The third deals with the issue of establishing the situation when trying to situate a phenomenon in an online setting. Finally, the fourth case examines our underlying research interests, when deciding to study a given empirical reality as a case of hate speech, extreme speech or similar concepts that imply that the phenomenon is transgressive to societal norms and morals.
Based on these, I introduce the concept of self-reflexive situating as a way of studying morally contentious topics online. This approach consists of three moves: a) explicating the situatedness of the researcher, b) situating the research subject in its own context, and, c) exploring the relation and tension between these two.

Author

• Jonatan Mizrahi-Werner, University of Copenhagen