Becoming part of a temporary protest organization through embodied walking ethnography

Abstract

PurposeThis paper explores the consequences of researching temporary protest organizations through embodied ethnography, paying attention to how, when and why a researcher takes sides.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employed embodied walking ethnography to study Lyra's Walk, a three-day, 68-mile protest walk held in May 2019 to advocate for peace in Northern Ireland. Data were primarily ethnographic, complemented by an analysis of social media, photos, videos and media coverage.FindingsFirst the authors argue that embodied walking ethnography can provide an inhabited understanding of organizing. The social, physical and emotional experiences of walking encourage researchers to identify more closely with participants and obtain a greater understanding of the phenomena studied. Second, the authors identify that methodological choice can have a greater impact on side-taking than either the conflict setting or organization researched.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper demonstrates the promise and consequences of using embodied walking ethnography to study a mobile organization. It further illustrates the nuances and challenges of conducting ethnography in a temporary protest organization.Originality/valueThe paper makes two contributions. The novel use of embodied walking ethnography to study temporary protest organizations can lead the research to become intertwined with the temporary organization during its process of organizational becoming. With the researcher's body acting as a research tool, their sensations and emotions impact data collection, interpretation and findings.

Introduction

“…Each has specific features that call for different methods of study. The study of protest as events, particularly a series of events, demands the observation of people "on the move" who are therefore not easily accessible for participant observation, unless the researcher becomes a participant in the event (Lubit and Gidley 2021). Observation seems to be a more appropriate method, although it may be either direct or indirect, as is the case of event analysis relying on the ex post facto analysis of various records (Rucht, Koopmans, and Neidhardt 1999).3…”

Guest editorial

“…Several papers focus on the emotional work involved in side-taking, including the use of emotions as a method of recognizing and dealing with ethically challenging situations. Using walking ethnography, Lubit and Gidley (2021) demonstrate how the social, physical and emotional experiences of walking encouraged the researchers to identify more closely with participants and obtain a greater understanding of the field. Walking ethnography requires of the researchers to use their bodies to engage physically and emotionally with the topic of investigation and the paper illustrates the nuances and challenges of this approach.…”

“…The article entitled "Becoming part of a temporary protest organization through embodied walking ethnography" (Lubit and Gidley, 2021) sheds light on how the chosen methodology of walking ethnography required the authors to take sides in the conflict setting of Northern Ireland. By participating in Lyra's Walk for Peace and walking across the province of Northern Ireland over three days to advocate for peace, the authors explicitly joined the protest organization in body and felt encouraged to identify more closely with fellow walkers.…”

Suffering, recovery and participant experience in a video game development accelerator

“…In this view, suffering happens, but it is an aberration. Therefore, suffering rarely appears in studies of organizations either because organizing presumes control (Gill, 2019), the study focuses elsewhere (Kanov, 2021), or the physical pain appears as a small aspect of a larger story (Calvey, 2021; Lubit and Gidley, 2021). By considering suffering, “we have to revise our representations of social organization or social structure” (Davis, 1992, p. 158).…”

“…Suffering often becomes a normal part of the job. Likewise, South African gold miners might risk their health and safety in order to meet production targets (Phakathi, 2013), organizational stakeholders may endure daily structural violence (Bruck and Garthwaite, 2021) or ethnographers may assume fieldwork involves hardship (Lubit and Gidley, 2021; Warden, 2013). Some have even argued for the benefit of suffering as a means to embed in an ecosystem (Vlasov et al ., 2021).…”