Introduction: the longitudinal ethnography of violence

While many anthropologists have previously reflected on longitudinal ethnography - for example distinguishing between different categories of longitudinal research, including the ethnographic revisit, either by the same or another researcher, diachronic research projects, involving continuous and sustained engagement over time, or so-called large-scale or multigenerational projects, among others - there has been little reflection on the way particular topics of research might impact on the longitudinal research process. In particular, we argue here that the stakes of longitudinal ethnographic research come to the fore particularly starkly in relation to studies of violence. More specifically, longitudinality potentially both enhances certain risks inherent to carrying out research on violence, while also offering unique opportunities for better understanding the phenomenon more reflexively.

Read the full introduction to the second section of Volume 7 of Conflict and Society. Volume 7 contains two special sections. The first special section addresses how the spatiality of terrorism and security responses mobilize and impact the realm of experience. The second special section focuses on the longitudinal ethnography of violence, and has been introduced by Lidewyde Berckmoes, Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard and Dennis Rodgers.