Abstract

MATA, Simão  and  FERNANDES, Luís. Methodological aspects of an ethnographic revisitation of psychotropic territories in Oporto. Etnográfica [online]. 2018, vol.22, n.2, pp.311-333. ISSN 0873-6561.  https://doi.org/10.4000/etnografica.5443.

The article is focused on a methodological discussion of an ethnographic revisitation of Aleixo, Pinheiro Torres and Pasteleira neighbourhoods, in the western area of Oporto. Ethnographic revisitations imply describing and understanding a previously analysed sociocultural context, looking for differences and similarities relative to the initial research. A brief review of some classical revisitations shows that they encompass a range of operationalization modes. The authors’ ongoing revisitation began in 2014, following one of the authors characterisation of these territories through ethnographic fieldwork (1990-1995). Current fieldwork, like the original one, is focused on the agents and territories involved in drug-related activities and interactions. The article is organised along three axes: (1) a brief review of the literature on the ethical, epistemological and methodological implications of ethnographic revisitations; (2) a description of the authors’ research method, highlighting the technical and relational components of the fieldwork; (3) the limitations, advantages and methodological challenges related with fieldwork, particularly with the different modes of “being in the field.” Finally, some of the themes that have so far emerged in the confrontation between the old and the new research data are approached.

Keywords : ethnographic revisitation; territory; drugs; council estate; fieldwork.

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