Exploring workshop. Essay Collection

Everyday Futures and Ethnographic Methods

Jill Ebrey and Isabelle Garabuau-Moussaoui

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Photograph: Jill Ebrey

This work explores the potential of ethnographic methods for understanding the future in everyday life. Based on a selective literature review, the paper discusses how ethnographic approaches enhance: The understanding of future-orientated practices and imaginaries; The analysis of possible futures of practices in everyday life; The integration of everyday analysis within an innovation process – forecasts, scenarios, etc. (design anthropology, for instance) or the proposition of alternative methods (narratives, etc.); The role of ethnographies in developing a shared idea of futures through collaborative work with research partners. Download full PDF