Positionality in Ethnographies of Right-Wing Politics: What critique remains in the end?

Commentary on Patrick Wielowiejski

Abstract

The reply critically examines the challenges of ethnographic research of the far right and sheds light on central aspects such as unlikeability, discomfort, representation and implication. It shows how tensions can be made analytically productive and dealt with reflexively, for example through a conscious examination of one's own positionality and entanglement in power dynamics. The text argues in favour of a critical ethnography that not only presents far-right politics in a nuanced way, but also makes visible how far-right ideologies are structurally embedded.