Based within Conflict:Epistemology and Politics in Feminist Ethnography

Objective/Context: Drawing on ethnographic research on the socio-political process in the Basque Country following ETA’s cessation of violence, in this article, I first explore the importance of ethnography as a form of political practice embedded in encounters, conversations, and relationships. Secondly, I address the multiple conflicts that are inherent to ethnographic practice and how their recognition is inextricably linked to a reflexive generation of knowledge. From this foundational base, this article moves on to explore the vulnerability inherent to ethnographic practices, from fieldwork to the writing process. Methodology: My research is based on ethnographic methodology. This article explores the importance, in this methodology, of opening conflicts and awareness of vulnerability as transformative, and part of feminist politics being carried out in different areas of our lives, including the academic framework —which must be reviewed and questioned. Conclusions: In the act of ‘doing’ ethnography, we always practice politics. Politics that are feminist politics are based on doubts and contradictions, as they allow us to err and sway. Politics that seek pleasures. Politics that reflect on our incorporated privileges. Politics that promote debate. Feminist ethnographies exist precisely because they can be questioned. Feminist ethnographies open up conflicts from which knowledge circulates and expands, in connection with our bodies and emotions. Originality: This article aims to spark thoughts and questions for an ethnographic practice full of challenges. Drawing on experiential reflections, this writing entails a provocation in order to open conversations on epistemology, methodology, and politics