Towards a counter-hegemonic bottom-up creation of concepts

Language of instruction

English

Course content

That theoretical concepts never fit perfectly with empirical reality is a well-known tenet in all disciplines of the social sciences and humanities. However, this problem of definition has become especially pertinent for methods where the researcher takes a close interest in the insider perspective of the people they study, like ethnography and different forms of ethnomethodology; for anyone working within critical traditions like feminism and postcolonialism; and indeed for anyone working with marginalised groups, where the question of how key scholarly concepts like democracy, trust, or technology are infused by hegemonic power always demonstrates it relevance.

The aim of the course is to critically examine key concepts that anchor our approaches to the social sciences and the humanities, and critically engage with their application in developing research methodologies. With an emphasis on embracing counterhegemonic perspectives and ethnography, the course aims to raise researchers' awareness about social and cultural diversity, and how well-established scholarly concepts and research methods reproduce hegemonic understanding of our social and cultural world. This calls for developing cultural capabilities that require continuous development and practice in understanding cultures, openness to examining one's own beliefs and values, and devising culture-sensitive and bottom-up methodologies. The subject offers examples of ethnographic methodologies developed by academics who could create space for diverse voices and knowledges, as well as bottom up-perspectives. In addition to general understanding and recognition of these issues, the subject will also walk the participants through their own current projects in order to rethink and re-examine the concepts and constructs they rely on within a more diverse context, in order to devise a roadmap towards re-storing them.

The course is suitable for PhD candidates and postdocs from all fields of the social sciences and the humanities who work on empirical research projects, but is especially targeted towards everyone working with ethnography, ethnomethodology or doing research with marginalised groups.

Learning outcomes

Upon successful completion of this course the participants should be able to:

• deal with theories about counter-hegemonic methodologies
• explain the necessity of understanding different definitions of concepts in a way that validates and values diverse cultural, historical and contemporary experiences
• understand and use research methods that are grounded in counter-hegemonic perspectives, ethnographic methodology and bottom-up creation of concepts
• rethink concepts and constructs in diverse contexts and create practical plans for re-storying them
• incorporate the new knowledge in developing methodologies that unmask and defy the hegemonic understanding of concepts
• recognize and understand the definition problems that have muddled most of the existing qualitative research in social sciences and humanities
• inform best practices in culturally competent research that seek to promote multiperspectival paradigms

Study period

1-2 Desember 2022

Credits (ECTS)

2 ECTS

Course registration and deadlines

Application deadline: 15 November 2022.

Participants apply for admission here

Maximum number of participants: 20.

Compulsory Requirements

• Read the literature
• Participate in the discussions in the modules

Form of assessment

Two oral presentations

Who may participate

PhD candidates

Postdoctoral researchers

The course is suitable for PhD candidates and postdocs from all fields of the social sciences and the humanities who work on empirical research projects, but is especially targeted towards everyone working with ethnography, ethnomethodology or doing research with marginalised groups.

Maximum number of participants: 20.

Programme

Programme attached

https://www.uib.no/sites/www.uib.no/files/attachments/detailed_ourse_description_phd_course_the_bottom-up_creation_of_concepts_002.pdf

Contact

Knut Risnes (Knut.Risnes@uib.no)

Academic responsibility

Dr. Maryam Alavi Nia, University of Bergen

Dr. John Magnus R. Dahl, University of Bergen

Lecturers

Professor Radha S. Hegde, New York University

Dr. Maryam Alavi Nia, University of Bergen

Dr. John Magnus R. Dahl, University of Bergen

Reading list

Alcoff, L. (1992). The Problem of Speaking for Others. Cultural Critique, (20), 5-32.

Hegde, R. S. (2016). Mediating migration. John Wiley & Sons, 2016 (excluding chapter 2 and 3). (258 pages).

Hegde, R.S. (2019) "Dangerous Precarity: Sexual Politics, Migrant Bodies and the Limits of Participation." In T. Thomas, M. Kruse & M. Stehling (eds) Media and Participation in post-migrant societies. Rowman & Littlefield International (33-45).

Hegde, R. (2021) Pathogens, precarity and digital politics of exclusion. Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience 7 (2)1-10. https://doi.org/10.28968/cftt.v7i2.35975

Tao, J. (1990). The Chinese Moral Ethos and the Concept of Individual Rghts. Journal of Applied Philosophy, 7(2), 119-127.

Willems, W. (2014). Beyond normative dewesternization: Examining media culture from the vantage point of the Global South. The Global South, 8(1), 7-23.

Total: 280 pages

Course location

University of Bergen