(University of Oregon, 2010-06) Moyer, Derek Harley, 1981-
Ethnographic accounts of religious practice offer rich and compelling access to
the details of lived religion in local sites. Insights from the phenomenological tradition
have become increasingly influential in thinking about what etlulOgraphies accomplish.
Although etlmographies of religion do well to pay attention to phenomenological
concems, ethnographic research and analysis cannot do the same work as
phenomenological analysis in studying religion. Etlmographies of religion pay attention
to diverse narratives and ways of storytelling, which are important aspects of members'
lived religious practice but are unavailable in phenomenological analysis. Storytelling is a fragile research practice that involves inherent ambiguities for ethnographers. These
ambiguities call for a persistent and critical reflexivity to be inscribed in ethnographic
writing. This reflexivity implies a fundamentally ethical way of thinking about
ethnographic research and writing, one that pays attention to the care that is required for
good ethnographies of religious practice.
