Call for Papers – deadline extended to 1 May 2014
ESA midterm conference, Research Network on Qualitative Research (RN20)
#Ethnography, @Amsterdam #August_27-29_2014 http://aissr.uva.nl/ethnography

Ethnography is often seen as one of the principal approaches in qualitative methodology in general. The ESA midterm conference for the Research Network on Qualitative research (RN20) will be on trends, traverses and traditions in Ethnography. The central question posed at this conference will be: How do current societal and technological trends influence ethnography when we are studying that same society? One could think of more concrete questions such as:

• Is ethnography changing due to social media, such as Twitter and Facebook? In what ways?
• What happens when we use mobile field recording devices, Skype and Youtubein our fieldwork? 
• What theoretical innovations have led to new approaches in ethnography? 
• How does the current economic crisis influence ethnographic practices for researchers? 
• What turn are we at now? 
• What other trends do we see in ethnography today?

In times of digital information overload, conferences are useful venues to discuss the trending topics within our field. Some of the questions posed above could be used to approach the vast array of ‘new’ trends in ethnography. Since one of the methodological virtues of ethnography is the possibility for adaptation to local and new situations, the question might rise whether these trends are actually methodologically new. Different specific sessions will be organised by leading specialists. Please see the website (http://aissr.uva.nl/ethnography) for the list of specific sessions.

We hope to organise an interesting conference in the heart of Amsterdam, combining classic presentations with a social program that consists of a Fieldwork Experiment: Mass – Observation in the Amsterdam Red light district, interactive lunch sessions and interesting keynotes by Susie Scott, Christian Heath, Peter Geschiere, Stefan Timmermansand Ruth Wodak. 

Authors are invited to submit their abstract either to a specific session or to the open sessions. Please submit each abstract to a single session only. 

Abstracts should not exceed 250 words. 

Abstracts can only be submitted at http://aissr.uva.nl/ethnography and no later than 1 May 2014.