Global ethnographic comparison

Sociologists are increasingly using comparative ethnographic research to examine how the interplay of global and local forces shape an array of social phenomena. However, there has yet been little examination of the distinct logics, challenges, and advantages of engaging in global ethnographic comparison (GEC). This special issue remedies that lacuna by bringing together seven studies that not only take different approaches to GEC, but also explicitly reflect on key methodological and practical questions arising from this kind of research. Our introductory essay frames these studies in three ways. First, we trace the roots of GEC in earlier approaches to global ethnography and macro-historical comparison, and delineate the field of global ethnographic comparison as it currently exists. Second, using the articles in this issue along with other recent examples, we develop a typology of GECs along two dimensions: the procedural order in which they are constructed, and the rationale for comparison that drives them. Finally, we consider how different approaches to GEC can shed light on key global processes in the 21st century, from the post-2008 dynamics of late neoliberalism to the current conjuncture marked by global pandemics, ecological crises, and ascendant right-wing populisms.