Acknowledgments xiii
Preface to the Second Edition xv
About the Authors xix
Timeline xxi
Introduction 1
Thinking Through This Text 3
Unique Features of This Book 4
1 What Is the “Feminist” in Feminist Ethnography? 7
Spotlight: Zenzele Isoke on Feminist Concepts 8
What Is Feminist Ethnography? 9
Spotlight: Dyese Osaze on Meaningful Ethnography 12
Essential: Commentary on Doing Feminist Ethnography by Rosemarie A. Roberts 13
Spotlight: Scott L. Morgensen on the Influence of Feminist Ethnography 15
What Contributed to the History of Feminisms? 15
Reconsidering “The Waves” 15
The Time of Suffrage 17
Essential: A Portion of the Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments, July 19, 1848 17
Radical Movement Building 19
Expanding a Feminist Legacy 22
Thinking Through . . . Foremothers of Feminism 23
How Are Feminist Perspectives Categorized? 24
Spotlight: Gayle Rubin’s Influence 26
Essential: Excerpt from the Combahee River Collective Statement 28
Essential: Excerpt from “Under Western Eyes Revisited” by Chandra Talpade Mohanty 30
Thinking Through . . . Feminisms 31
Conclusion 31
Thinking Through . . . Feminist Perspectives and Key Texts 32
2 Historicizing Feminist Ethnography 35
Who Were Some of the Early Contributors to Feminist Ethnography? 36
Essential: Excerpt from The Omaha Tribe by Alice Fletcher and Francis LaFlesche 37
How Did Feminist Ethnography Mature between the 1920s and 1960s? 40
Essential: Excerpt from Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston 41
What Impact Did the Women’s Movement of the 1960s Have on the Next Phase of Feminist Ethnographic Production? (1960s–1980s) 42
Thinking Through . . . Restudying Culture 43
Spotlight: Florence Babb on the Impact of Woman, Culture, and Society and Toward an Anthropology of Women 44
Essential: Excerpt from “Too Queer for College” by Esther Newton 46
Spotlight: Louise Lamphere on the Legacy of Lamphere v. Brown 48
Thinking Through . . . Faculty Composition at Your Institution 50
What Interventions Came Out of Feminist Ethnography from the 1990s Through the Present? 50
Essential: Excerpt from “Methodological Gifts in Latina/o Studies and Feminist Anthropology” by Gina Pérez 52
Spotlight: C. Riley Snorton on Feminist Anthropology and Trans Studies 55
Spotlight: Lee Baker on Feminist Histories 57
Conclusion 58
Thinking Through . . . Critiques and Reviews of an Ethnography 58
3 Debates and Interventions in Feminist Ethnography 61
Who Should Be Claimed as a Feminist Ethnographer? 62
Essential: Excerpt from Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples by Linda Tuhiwai Smith 63
Can There Be a Feminist Ethnography? 64
Essential: Excerpt from “Can There Be a Feminist Ethnography?” by Judith Stacey 65
Essential: Excerpt from Feminism and Method by Nancy A. Naples 68
How Have Feminist Ethnographers Approached the Insider/Outsider Dilemma? 69
Essential: Excerpt from “Feminist Insider Dilemmas” by Patricia Zavella 70
Spotlight: Shannon Speed on Fieldwork and Identity 72
What Is the Role of Citational Politics in Feminist Ethnography? 75
Spotlight / Essential: Christen A. Smith on Citing Black Women 76
Essential: Excerpt from “Making Feminist Points,” on the feministkilljoys Blog by Sara Ahmed 80
Thinking Through . . . An Intellectual Genealogy 81
Can an Ethnographer’s Personal Experience Be a Part of a Study? 81
Spotlight: Laura Mauldin on the Impact of Life Experiences 82
How Involved or Engaged Should a Feminist Ethnographer Be? 84
Spotlight: Brenna McCaffrey on the Political Stakes of Feminist Ethnography 85
Spotlight: Mary L. Gray on the Labor of Feminist Ethnography 86
Conclusion 88
Thinking Through . . . What Would a Feminist Ethnographer Do? 88
4 How Does One Do Feminist Ethnography? 91
Essential: Excerpt from “Feminist Methodology . . .” by Faye V. Harrison 92
How Should a Feminist Ethnographer Choose a Topic? 94
Spotlight: Elisabeth Engebretsen on Choosing Methods and Shifting Knowledge 95
What Methods Have Been Useful to Feminist Ethnographers? 97
Participant-Observation 98
Essential: Excerpt from Queer Activism in India by Naisargi Dave 99
Ethnographic Interviewing 100
Spotlight: Class of 2021 Undergraduates on Fieldwork during a Pandemic 102
Oral History/Life History 106
Spotlight: Tracy Fisher on Using Oral/Life History to Address Feminist Ethnographic Questions 106
Survey 108
Analysis of Cultural Material 109
Social Media Research 110
Ethnohistory 113
Spotlight: Whitney Battle-Baptiste on Historical Archaeology and Literary Fiction 114
Participatory Research 115
Essential: Excerpt from “Photovoice” by Caroline C. Wang and Mary Ann Burris 116
Interpretive Communities 118
Conclusion 119
Thinking Through . . . Three Options to Explore Methodological Possibilities 120
Thinking Through . . . Word Cloud Magic! 120
5 Challenges for Feminist Ethnographers 123
Spotlight: Elizabeth Chin on Envisioning a Feminist IRB Process 125
What Logistical Constraints Arise in Feminist Ethnographic Research? 126
Essential: Excerpt from “Following as Method” in Mobile Subjects: Transnational Imaginaries of Gender Reassignment by Aren Z. Aizura 128
Essential: Excerpt from “Cast among Outcastes” by Delores Walters 131
Essential: Excerpt from “Toward a Fugitive Anthropology: Gender, Race, and Violence in the Field,” by Maya J. Berry, Claudia Chávez Argüelles, Shanya Cordis, Sarah Ihmoud, Elizabeth Velásquez Estrada 134
How Do Ethical Concerns Shape the Research Encounter? 136
Thinking Through . . . Difficult Ethnographic Experiences 137
Spotlight: Loretta J. Ross on Working with Former Skinhead White Supremacists 138
Spotlight: Tanya Erzen on the Politics of Reciprocity and Mediation 141
How Can We Assess the (Potential) Impacts of Feminist Ethnography? 144
Spotlight: Kiersten Downs on “Feminist Curiosity” and Stamina 144
Spotlight: Sandra Morgen on Movement Building 146
Thinking Through . . . Ethical Dilemmas 148
Conclusion 148
6 Producing Feminist Ethnography 151
How Does One Write Feminist Ethnography? 152
Essential: Excerpt from Alive in the Writing by Kirin Narayan 156
Essential: Excerpt from Progressive Dystopia: Abolition, Antiblackness and Schooling in San Francisco by Savannah Shange 157
Essential: Excerpt from Playing with Fire by the Sangtin Writers Collective and Richa Nagar 160
What Creative Possibilities Exist for Writing and Circulating Feminist Ethnography? 161
Spotlight: Asale Angel-Ajani on Writing (Without Swagger) 162
Fiction 163
Essential: Excerpt from A World of Babies by Judy DeLoache and Alma Gottlieb 164
Parallel Writing 165
Autoethnography and Ethnographic Memoir 166
Essential: Excerpt from Downtown Ladies, “My Jelly Platform Shoes” by Gina Athena Ulysse 167
Thinking Through . . . Citational Politics, Revisited in the Age of #MeToo 170
How Can We Make Feminist Ethnography Publicly Accessible? 170
Spotlight: Harjant Gill on Film as a Powerful Feminist Medium 172
How Do Feminist Ethnographers Engage in Creative and Artistic Projects? 175
Thinking Through . . . Experimental Design 176
Conclusion 177
Thinking Through . . . Developing Creative Ethnography 178
7 Feminist Activist Ethnography 181
What Does It Mean to Be a Feminist Activist Ethnographer? 183
Thinking Through . . . Engaging in Public Scholarship 185
What Should Feminist Activist Ethnography Seek to Accomplish? 185
Essential: Excerpt from “Water Is Life—Meters Out!” by Susan Brin Hyatt 186
Is Feminist Ethnography Inherently Activist? 187
What Forms Can Feminist Activist Ethnography Take? 189
Essential: Excerpt from Black Autonomy: Race, Gender, and Afro-Nicaraguan Activism by Jennifer Goett 190
Collaboration and Participatory Action Research 190
Essential: Excerpt from “Makes Me Mad! Stereotypes of Young Urban Womyn of Color” by the Fed Up Honeys 191
Social Media and Film 194
Spotlight: Tom Boellstorff on New Technologies and Activism 194
Thinking Through . . . Working with Activists 196
Spotlight: Michelle Téllez on Activism Through Storytelling in Visual Media 196
Serving as an Interlocutor 197
Essential: Excerpt from “Introduction: Comparative Perspectives on the Indigenous Rights Movement in Africa and the Americas” by Dorothy Hodgson 198
How Can Feminist Activist Ethnographers Reflect upon Our Practice? 199
Spotlight: Leith Mullings on Keeping Feminist Ethnography Meaningful 201
Conclusion 201
8 Thinking Through the Futures of Feminist Ethnography 205
Glossary 209
Bibliography 213
Index 231