Political Activist Ethnography: Studies in the Social Relations of Struggle

Activists use political activist ethnography to produce knowledge for social transformation, focusing on moments and spaces of direct struggle to reveal how ruling regimes are organized. This volume features research from Aotearoa, Bangladesh, Canada, Poland, South Africa, and the United States on various topics, including anti-poverty organizing, prisoners' re-entry, anti-fracking campaigns, left-inspired think-tank development, non-governmental partnerships, involuntary psychiatric admission, and perils of immigration medical examination. It adopts a bottom-up approach to inquiry to produce knowledge for activists, not about them.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 14 May 2024
Publisher: AU Press

Activists, strategists, and resistance fighters are calling for better dialogue between researchers and movements and for research that can aid their causes. In this volume, contributors examine how research can produce knowledge for social transformation by using political activist ethnography, a unique social research strategy that uses political confrontation as a resource and focuses on moments and spaces of direct struggle to reveal how ruling regimes are organized so activists and social movements can fight them. Featuring research from Aotearoa (New Zealand), Bangladesh, Canada, Poland, South Africa, and the United States on matters as diverse as anti-poverty organizing, prisoners' re-entry, anti-fracking campaigns, left-inspired think-tank development, non-governmental partnerships, involuntary psychiatric admission, and perils of immigration medical examination, contributors to this volume adopt a bottom-up approach to inquiry to produce knowledge for activists, not about them. This volume is a must-read for humanities and social sciences scholars keen on assisting activists and advancing social change.

Weight: 414g
Dimension: 153 x 229 x 21 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781771993982