Doing Ethnography

Timely critique of the expanding institutional control over academic research and its impact on ethnographic practice.

In recent decades, academic research has come under increasing institutional surveillance and control. Doing Ethnography traces the rise of ethical review procedures, open science mandates, and integrity protocols, examining how these developments shape ethnographic practice. It critically explores key themes such as doing no harm, informed consent, transparency, anonymity, researcher positionality, and the sharing of field notes.

The book argues that contemporary academia often enforces universal, bureaucratic forms of regulatory ethics. Rooted in quantitative and (post-)positivist paradigms, these frameworks frequently clash with ethnography’s interpretive, intersubjective, and immersive fieldwork approach. In response, it calls for a situated, context-sensitive ethics of care attuned to the specificities of ethnographic engagement. Ultimately, Doing Ethnography offers both a critical reflection on institutional power and a plea to recognise and sustain the epistemic diversity on which academic freedom depends.

Listen to the 'Room to Explore' episode with Annelies Moors: Spotify.

"Doing Ethnography" was written by Annelies Moors.

Annelies Moors is an anthropologist and Professor Emerita at the University of Amsterdam. Most recently she was the principal investigator of the ERC advanced grant ‘Muslim Marriages’ and held the NIAS fellowship ‘The Struggle for the Future of Ethnography’.

Yes, "Doing Ethnography" is part of the "NIAS Studies in Academic Freedom and Epistemic Diversity" series.

Visit www.nias.knaw.nl for more information about the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW).

Institutes for Advanced Study hold a special position within academia. By welcoming world-class scholars and fostering disciplinary, epistemological and cultural diversity, these institutes are highly conducive to generating new comparative perspectives and cross-pollinations. The particular combination of advanced scholarship, freedom from institutional constraints and the liberty to venture into new directions, makes them ideal laboratories for reflecting on science and society – and, consequently, for engaging with fundamental questions about academic freedoms, epistemic diversity and the science system.

With this series of monographs and edited volumes, the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW) aims to present insights from the institute’s fellows, alumni and partners that foreground the structural challenges scholars, disciplines, knowledge domains and academic institutions encounter as they contend with political, policy-related, economic and societal pressures. In doing so, the series seeks to open or further discussions about where scholars and disciplines currently stand, where we envision them going and what is needed to help them get there.

The NIAS Studies in Academic Freedom and Epistemic Diversity is primarily a series by and for academics within the Humanities and Social Sciences, but will also be of interest to academic administrators and policymakers. Titles will be considered based on proposals submitted by NIAS fellows and alumni, initiated by the editorial board, or received through open submission.

Editorial Board

Antoine Buyse, Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS-KNAW) (editor-in-chief)
Merlijn Olnon, NIAS-KNAW (editorial secretary & editor)
Markus Balkenhol, Meertens Instituut - KNAW (editor)
Jacob Boersema, New York University (editor)
Nadia Bouras, Universiteit Leiden (editor)
Karwan Fatah-Black, Universiteit Leiden (editor)

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editor-in-chief Antoine Buyse.

Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Proposal Submission Form

Open Access & Funding Options

Yes, "Doing Ethnography" is published Open Access. It is available under a BY-NC-ND license.

Publication of "Doing Ethnography" was funded by KU Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access
Open Book Collective
NIAS - Netherlands Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities and Social Sciences
.

Acknowledgements Chapter 1. Beyond an affaire: managing ethnography 1.1. An article and its afterlife: reputation management in action 1.2. Engaging with the trouble: ethnography, academia, and society 1.3. Writing this book: set-up and chapters Chapter 2. Doing ethnography: an approach, not a method 2.1. Ethnography as relational and processual 2.2. Ethnography beyond anthropology 2.3. Ethnography in a changing world 2.4. Conclusion: epistemological plurality Chapter 3. Research ethics: problems with regulation 3.1. Ethical self-regulation in anthropology 3.2. Enforceable ethics: state governance and beyond 3.3. Conclusion: doing ethics differently Chapter 4. The complexities of doing no harm and informed consent 4.1. Doing no harm: power and ethos 4.2. Informed consent: the forms 4.3. Informed consent: the principle 4.4. Ethnography, concealment, and publication 4.5. Conclusion: ethical dilemmas Chapter 5. Open Science and replication: trust, distrust, and transparency 5.1. The Open Science movement: from utopia to dystopia? 5.2. The trouble with transparency 5.3. The replication crisis: what does it mean? 5.4. Ethnography, replication, and openness 5.5. Conclusion: another kind of openness Chapter 6. Constructing integrity: codification in context 6.1. Public scandals and the emergence of integrity codes 6.2. Constructing integrity: comparing the codes 6.3. Policy-making: projectification and integrity 6.4. Conclusion: from ethics to commerce Chapter 7. Anonymity, positionality, and field notes: integrity in practice 7.1. Contesting anonymity: a turn to disclosure? 7.2. Positionality and substance: relations in process 7.3. The problem with sharing field notes 7.4. Conclusion: a case-by-case approach Chapter 8. Academic freedom: scholarship and politics 8.1. A diversity of perspectives: politicising the academy 8.2. Funding and employment 8.3. External threats and internal harassment 8.4. Israel/Palestine: academic freedom in action 8.5. Conclusion: acting with responsibility Chapter 9. Conclusion: dilemmas and responsibilities 9.1. Ethics, integrity, and power 9.2. Doing ethics and integrity differently 9.3. Academic freedom: ethnography and beyond Notes References

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) for "Doing Ethnography" is 10.11116/9789461667502.