The Ethics and Pragmatics of Ethnographic Refusal/Acceptance

Abstract Ethnographic refusal has been thematized as a challenge by many anthropologists. However, instead of approaching it simply as a problem, this article seeks to understand how both refusal and acceptance are socially related, appear on a continuum, and many times co-constitute and inform each other. Attending carefully to the various iterations of refusal/acceptance can serve as an entry point to study the effects of power and, just as importantly, consider the distinct methodological and ethical considerations that are at stake. In so doing, the article examines and shows how refusal/acceptance works, following Isabelle Stenger, in “making sense in common,” which figures here as a prerequisite for the ethnographic encounter. It presents two ethnographic vignettes, drawing on work with Muslims in Belgium, that reflect two moments of refusal/acceptance: one wherein refusal/acceptance operates as a technology for one's political agency and a second one in which refusal/acceptance partakes in the construction of an intimate sociality.