Ethnographic borders and crossings: Critical ethnography, intersectionality, and blurring the boundaries of insider research

Abstract

Critical ethnographers have long challenged positivist notions of research objectivity and the presumed unbiased observer, arguing that one’s theoretical lens and positionality influence research design, access, and experiences in the field. Scholars of color have further pointed out the need to examine people’s lived experiences through an intersectional framework, acknowledging the ways in which people’s lives are situated within larger structures of power and forms of oppression. In this paper, I use critical ethnography as an intersectional methodological approach to examine the lived experiences of mixed-status families and situate them within a larger political-economic context of restrictive immigration policies and neoliberal globalization. Critical ethnography is a useful methodology when interrogating larger questions of structure and agency, positionality, and social justice scholarship. I use critical ethnography to challenge the rigidity of ethnographic borders by proposing a concept of “ethnographic crossings” as moments in time and space when the roles of researchers and participants become blurred and intertwined. I draw on ethnographic examples to show the evolution of my project—from gaining access to immigrant families and following them across two countries to the close relationships developed during fieldwork that crossed emotional boundaries.