Ethnographic exploration of the city Potentials of a reflective positionality

Abstract

The ethnographic research of cities cannot be reduced to simple methodical tools. Instead, it is a multimodal methodology that takes a holistic view of symbolic structures and notions of meaning productions of urban actors and their socio-spatial practices, thereby revealing the relationships of power and political logic of urban society. Regarding a steadily growing interdisciplinary interest in urban ethnography, it is pivotal that urban ethnographic researchers reflect on this basic methodological grasp in its relevance for political responsibility and politics of ethnographical representation. The article, therefore, outlines the paths of urban ethnographic research and focuses on the modes of reflection of the researcher’s position as well as the interventionist potential because the debate about a political and reflective attitude of ethnographic knowledge production is central to the connectivity of ethnography in the fields of interdisciplinary critical urban research.