"Hanging Out" while Studying "Up": Doing Ethnographic Fieldwork in International Relations

Deepak Nair*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

35 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This article advances a methodological argument on how to do ethnographic fieldwork amid social elites and inaccessible bureaucracies in international politics. Instead of participant observation or semi-structured interviews, the article proposes "hanging out"as an alternative strategy to generate immersion and ethnographic insight. While the ethnographer studying "down"is arguably always "hanging out"(the village as the exemplary mise-en-scene of this genre), this technique takes a more defined form when studying "up"elites. Specifically, hanging out when studying "up"is a strategy where the fieldworker commits to a period of continuous residence amid members of a community; engages in ludic, informal, and often sociable interactions outside or at the sidelines of their professional habitats; and participates in a range of activities where building rapport is as important as the primary goals of the research. I illustrate this methodological strategy and its payoffs by reflecting upon a year of fieldwork among the diplomats and bureaucrats of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - an informal, quiet, and often sub rosa diplomatic project run by a band of mostly authoritarian states in Southeast Asia. This article contributes to debates on the viability of ethnographic fieldwork in international relations (IR); advances a methodological corrective to fieldwork prescriptions in new micropolitical studies of practice, interactions, and emotions in IR; and offers a practical illustration of what studying "up"looks like in diplomacy and international politics.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1300-1327
Number of pages28
JournalInternational Studies Review
Volume23
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Dec 2021
Externally publishedYes

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