Sociology and Space, Vol. 59 No. 219, 2021.
Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.59.0.10
Renewal of Ethnography in the Time of the COVID-19 Crisis
Dan Podjed
; Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute of Slovenian Ethnology, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Abstract
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis of anthropological research has occurred
that requires both methodological and epistemological considerations. The basic tool of anthropology
is field research based on participant observation in situ and in close contact with
people. However, during the pandemic, it has become almost impossible to conduct research
in this way, as distancing and self-isolation are required. During the crisis, anthropologists have
mostly stayed at home and have had to find new approaches to studying ways of life, including
the use of digital methods. This article presents examples of such remote and technology-
enabled ethnographic research. It illustrates the theoretical premises with the results from
various research projects that have used remote ethnography, and complements them with the
author’s reflections on anthropological work and daily life, written as an online blog during the
COVID-19 pandemic, in which he outlined how he interacted with people via digital devices.
Keywords
anthropological methods; remote ethnography; digital ethnography; armchair anthropology; COVID-19; crisis
Hrčak ID:
255061
URI
Publication date:
1.4.2021.
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