2026 Volume 33 Issue 1 Pages 7-20
This article examines how fieldwork and ethnography in anthropology can be revitalized through the application of “diffractive methodology,” as proposed by Karen Barad within the framework of “agential realism.” First, I outline the trajectory of modern anthropology from the late 19th century to the present, demonstrating that the prevailing methodological foundations of fieldwork and ethnography, which have been instrumental in establishing anthropology as a social science, have historically rested on “essentialist” assumptions. These assumptions, in turn, have inadvertently supported and accelerated the processes of colonialism. In response to this problem, I propose a reconfiguration of fieldwork and ethnographic methodologies informed by “diffractive methodology.” This approach, grounded in the relational and performative ontology of agential realism, seeks to move beyond essentialism by recognizing the entangled agencies of researchers, participants, and the material-discursive environments in which knowledge is produced. Finally, I explore the potential contributions of this reconfigured methodological fieldwork to revitalizing anthropology as a decolonial science. By embedding diffractive practices into ethnographic research, anthropology may more effectively resist colonial legacies and foster epistemologies that are situated, relational, and ethically responsive to diverse ways of living.
