Friend in the Field:
a reflexive approach to
being a Quaker ethnographer
Abstract
Eleanor Nesbitt
University of Warwick
Quaker Studies 4 (1999): 82-112
Acknowledgement of the significance of reflexivity in social research
has generated numerous autobiographical references in introductions to
reports of field studies of faith communities. In particular the relevance
of the researcher's gender- or at least female gender - has been a subject
for scholarly reflection. Moreover, the insider/outsider dichotomy has
been invoked and contested, and the changing relationship between the
ethnographer and the field during field work has been charted.
In this
article it is some ethnographers' religious context and orientation that is
the focus. With particular reference to some contemporary British
Quakers whose field work has had a religious focus, including the
Society of Friends itself, this article suggests that insights and concerns
that are characteristic of a researcher's faith community may find
expression in the ethnographic research process.
Both the mutual
reinforcement and tension between the assumptions and practices
underpinning being a Quaker and being an ethnographer are considered.
Quakers' 'marginality', their concern for interfaith dialogue and
understanding of listening are factors which receive attention. Aspects
of this research process may in turn, it is suggested, contribute to the
researcher's spiritual journey.
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