Critical Ethnography

Critical ethnography interrogates dominance and resistance as they manifest in everyday cultural, social, and political practice. Since its debut in the 1970s, critical ethnography has been widely practiced in anthropology, sociology, and applied social research disciplines such as education, public health, and psychology. The idea of “critical” does not mean to judge social phenomena based on unjustified personal preferences but to interpret and interrogate social practice and processes on the normative ground of the value commitments to equity, justice, and emancipation. As a form of social critique, critical ethnography never shuns problematizing the power structures and dynamics that perpetuate injustice and reproduce inequality. Many researchers have a cumulative understanding of knowledge that allows them to envision their work as part of a large process to add one more brick to the grand edifice of knowledge. A critical ethnographer, aligned with and informed by a wide range of critical theories, will not be satisfied with merely understanding and explaining the hidden mechanisms, patterns, and trends of the social world. They will guide their research practice with questions such as how their work will contribute to transforming this world into a better, more just, and equitable place.