Diffractive Ethnography

Across intellectual disciplines, the ontological turn is restructuring how we think about our relationships with the natural world. Influenced by the seemingly disparate realms of indigenous philosophy and quantum physics, the turn invites us to think about intra-actions and assemblages of human and nonhuman entities.
This raises epistemological questions about how we know about the world, and spotlights some of the problems with how we currently do conventional social science research. Diffractive Ethnography invites social scientists to consider alternate methodologies that account for the complexity of human behavior situated in larger environmental contexts.
For both novice and experienced researchers, this thought-provoking book opens new ways of thinking about methodology and raises questions about the ethical and justice orientations of our work.

Jessica Smartt Gullion, PhD, is Associate Professor of Sociology at Texas Woman's University, where she teaches courses in research methods and medical and environmental sociology. Her research focuses on qualitative methodology as a tool for social justice.

Acknowledgements Introduction Part I: Engaging the Ontological Turn Chapter 1. A Turn from What? Chapter 2. An Overview of Vibrant Materialism Chapter 3. Paradigm Changes Part II: Methodological Contradictions in Social Science Inquiry Chapter 4. Objectivity in Research Chapter 5. Instruments of Measurement Chapter 6. Beyond Cause and Effect Chapter 7. Zombie Categories Chapter 8. Data Chapter 9. The Crisis of Representation Chapter 10. Reflexivity and Its Discontents Part III: Diffractive Ethnography Chapter 11. A Brief Overview of Ethnography Chapter 12. Thinking with Theory Chapter 13. Assemblages and Entanglements Chapter 14. Diffraction Chapter 15. The Liveliness of Matter Part IV: Becoming Chapter 16. Healing the Nature/Culture Divide Chapter 17. The Ethics of Entanglements References Index