Double Exposure: Exploring the Social and Political Relations of Ethnographic Youth Research

Abstract

In the last 10 to 15 years, the social sciences and cultural studies have experienced a renewed interest in investigating issues of power in the research relationship, and debates within ethnography, in particular, have played a key role in this revival. The purpose of this chapter is to explore and develop some ideas surrounding the politics of ethnographic research practice in relation to studying young people, specifically through an examination of what might be called the ‘social relations of fieldwork’. In doing so, it will draw upon a range of general commentary on the researcher-researched relationship, as well as provide some concrete examples from my own ethnographic study of young people’s transitions into work and training in the mid-1980s (see Hollands, 1990).