Navigating the Labyrinth: Ethical Reflections before, during and after ethnographic work with the Nordic Manosphere

This article presents and reflects on the ethical challenges when conducting digital ethnography in the Nordic Manosphere. Drawing on empirical cases from two qualitative projects within the Nordic manosphere, the article identifies tensions in conducting ethnographic fieldwork, accessing the field, and disseminating findings, offering methodological guidance in navigating these.<br/><br/>The empirical material includes extensive fieldnotes, interviews, and reflexive accounts of ethical decision-making. We conducted a preliminary cross-case analysis to identify similarities and differences in ethical tensions, followed by tracing and mapping these tensions across the phases of fieldwork: before, during, and after.<br/><br/>Before entering the field, tensions arose around negotiating access, balancing curiosity about participants, versus legitimizing harmful ideologies, and deciding which researcher presence to signal. During fieldwork, dilemmas centered on managing asymmetries in the research relationship, listening critically without endorsing problematic views, and navigating moments where research recruitment itself became part of the field’s dynamics. After fieldwork, tensions re-emerged around how to represent the field ethically, how to disseminate knowledge without reinforcing harm, betraying trust, or misrepresenting participants.<br/><br/>Seen together, these tensions illustrate that ethics in politicized digital spaces is not a matter of isolated moments but an ongoing negotiation, as ethical reflections continually fold back into the environments it studies.<br/><br/>Ultimately, the article adds to discussions on navigating digital environments and promotes viewing fieldwork as a continuous, relational engagement rather than a practice of extraction and departure. Navigating the ethical labyrinth thus calls for an approach where ethics and methods evolve in relation to the field, rather than something being imposed apriori.