<i>Pakeha, Palagi, Whiteskin</i>: Reflections on Ethnographic Socialisation and the Self

Wolffram, Paul

doi:10.1080/14442213.2013.786753

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…This immersion can result in academic identity fading, and thoughts of leaving academia to work for the organization being studied arising. Ethnographers can face difficulties in separating from the studied organization after fieldwork is completed (Gilmore and Kenny, 2015), suggesting that their experiences of ethnographic work involved achieving ‘successful socialization’ into the studied organization, and feeling they belong in the social fabric of the studied organization (Wolffram, 2013).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational socialization as kin-work: A psychoanalytic model of settling into a new job

Gilmore

Harding

2021

Human Relations

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Socialization, the transition from newcomer to embedded organizational citizen, is an inevitable feature of organizational life. It is often a painful and traumatic experience, but why this is so, and how its difficulties can be ameliorated, is not well understood. This article addresses this issue by developing a new person-centred model of socialization. We introduce the concept of kin-work, i.e. the replication of one’s first experiences of becoming part of a family, to explain how ‘successful’ socialization is achieved. Drawing on the methodology of memory work and psychoanalytical theories of object relations, we illustrate how entry into new jobs involves the unconscious re-enactment in adult life of the infant’s initiation into the family. On entry as a stranger to a new organization, one’s sense of self is fractured; processes of kin-work knit the pieces back together and one develops a sense of personhood and being at home. However, there is a sting in this tale: the homely contains its uncanny, unhomely opposite, so socialization is always ambivalent – one can never be at home in this place that feels like home.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational socialization as kin-work: A psychoanalytic model of settling into a new job

Gilmore

Harding

2021

Human Relations

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Dreaming a Narrative and Conjuring an Image: Collaborative Filmmaking with People and Spirits in Melanesia

Wolffram¹

2018

Visual Anthropology

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Exploring Sport and Intergroup Relations in Fiji: Guidance for Researchers Undertaking Short-Term Ethnography

Sugden

Adair

Schulenkorf

et al. 2019

Sociology of Sport Journal

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There is a key tension associated with ethnographic explorations into the lives of people in the Global South – ‘outsider’ researchers from the Global North who lack experience of the environments they are seeking to understand. A considered response, therefore, is for scholars to seek physical immersion in a field—to live among those they are trying to understand. Such ethnographic inquiries are optimal when researchers have the capacity to engage over long periods of time. However, in some circumstances, this may not feasible. Thus, questions arise about the veracity of field work investigations that are not only temporally brief but undertaken by scholars who lack local experience. This paper reflects on the experiences of a researcher who was faced with those challenges. It provides guidance as to how scholars might prepare for short-term ethnography (STE) in field work, along with the limitations and constraints of such an approach. The research centered on a sport for development and peace study into intergroup relations and ethnic separatism in Fijian sport.

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Pakeha, Palagi, Whiteskin: Reflections on Ethnographic Socialisation and the Self

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Organizational socialization as kin-work: A psychoanalytic model of settling into a new job

Organizational socialization as kin-work: A psychoanalytic model of settling into a new job

Dreaming a Narrative and Conjuring an Image: Collaborative Filmmaking with People and Spirits in Melanesia

Exploring Sport and Intergroup Relations in Fiji: Guidance for Researchers Undertaking Short-Term Ethnography

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