Bringing Fieldwork Back In—Contemporary Urban Ethnographic Research

In 2001, the first of a series of ethnographic conferences took place in Los Angeles with an emphasis on fieldwork. Since then the field has gained a much larger disciplinary footprint. While the increase in substantial research in the field has risen dramatically, ethnographic styles of writing have emerged that fail to include much discernible fieldwork. This volume of The Annals broaches the subject of improving fieldwork in the ethnographic spectrum through old-fashioned or “shoe leather” fieldwork. At a more recent ethnographic conference at Yale University in 2010 with a follow-up in June 2011, emerging ethnographers were mentored by senior scholars in whichthey presented an informal, yet supportive setting where ethnographic fieldwork could be constructively critiqued. This volume is a product of those collective efforts. The articles in this volume include insight into relations among affluent minorities, the status system we find in today’ssports, and a portrait of an employer of undocumented workers, among other articles. This volume will appeal to both undergraduate and graduate students with a wide range of interests including sociology, education, anthropology, and race and gender conflicts and problems.