Organizational ethnography, or about studying culture as a process

Ethnography is a methodological and epistemological approach particularly well suited to the
purpose of the study of cultures as processes. The word “ethnography” comes from the Greek
ethnos, which signifies “a people” and graphy, which means “writing” – ethnography means
writing about people (Kostera and Harding, 2021). The methods favoured by ethnographers
aim at seeing, experiencing, and understanding human interactions and relationships. The task
of the researcher is to interpret and make sense of the collected material, by connecting cues
derived from the field to frames and stories that serve as connecting devices (Weick, 1995).
Ethnographers usually look for patterns, structures, and emerging categories. Art theorist and
artist John Berger has explained that seeing is more than just taking in something by the sense
of sight ; ‘seeing’ establishes our place in the world. We see and we are aware that we can be
seen. The ethnographic method called ‘non-participant observation’ is about active looking and
focusing on the immediate moment. Interview is about making sense in and with the field,
getting an enactive grasp of the cultural dynamics. The observed is now set against its use in
the everyday categories.

Monika Kostera is Titular Professor in economics and the humanities.
She works as Professor in Sociology at Warsaw University, as well as
Professor in Management at Institut Mines-Télécom Business School,
Université Paris-Saclay, France and Guest Professor in Management at
Södertörn University, Sweden. She has also been employed as
professor and chair in the UK, including at Durham University. She
writes and publishes texts on organization theory as well as poetry. She
is Associate Editor at Gender, Work and Organization and has been coediting several journals including British Journal of Management. Her current research interests include organizational imagination, disalienated work and organizational ethnography. She is member of Erbacce Poets’ Cooperative. www.kostera.pl

1 Ethique, Technologies, Humains, Organisations, Société
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Laboratoire en innovation, Technologies, Economie et Management
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Stratégie, pilotage, innovation et développement durable
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Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire de Recherches en Sciences de l’Action