Provides an overview of ethnographic researchtraditions within the social and political sciences through an exploration ofclassic and contemporary studies. Explores the important contributions of classic and contemporary ethnographic studies to our understanding of politics, society, government and the state. Offers an introduction to conducting ethnographic research and analysing the results through lectures, seminars and hands-on experience of small scale fieldwork. Outlines how sustained, in-depth observation and fieldwork, and the ' thick description' it generates, can be used to establish new ways of thinking about many of the central topics of sociology, social policy, anthropology, political science and beyond: including the state, government, democracy, justice, power, culture, organisation, order, rationality, accountability and risk – and their dark 'others' : dictatorship, injustice, violence, disorganisation, disorder, disaster, irrat ionality, corruption, venality and greed. Demonstrates clearly that, as students of social and political life, we have as much to learn from studies of African or Native American/First Nation societies of the past as from studies of globalised capitalist societies today.

(LO1) Demonstrate knowledge of the ethnographic traditions that criss-cross social and political studies of government and the 'relationships of rule' in sociology, social policy, anthropology, political science and many other disciplines.

(LO2) Describe the pre-20th C precursors of contemporary studies, 'proto-ethnographies', and the political contexts in which they acquired their power.

(LO3) Chart some of the different ways in which ethnographic studies of politics, society, government and the state developed over the 20th C up to the present day.

(LO4) Link ethnographic research to the key theoretical, methodological and political debates which motivate particular kinds of study: from the observational studies of 'the poor' in the 19th C, through to studies of 'indigenous' political organisation in the early 20th C, on to the emergence of the new social and political studies of states and governmental practices in the late 20th and early 21st C.

(LO5) Reflect on the focus on practices (political practices, policy practices, state and society making practices) as an important link between different kinds of ethnographic study.

(LO6) Outline the contributions of ethnographic research to understandings of politics, society and the emergence of new forms of governmental activity.

(LO7) Conduct a small-scale observational study of politics-in-action and work evidence up under different theoretical, methodological and analytical frames.

(S1) Conducting smallscale fieldwork

(S2) Writing up fieldwork data

(S3) Comparing and contrasting different analytical approaches in terms of what they bring to an understanding of data

(S4) Describing, analysing and reflecting

(S5) Communicating an understanding to others through written accounts

Classic and contemporary ethnographic traditions Social exchange and political capital The politics of (mis)understanding Politics as custom and ritual Government and policy as practice The return of the state

Teaching Method 1 - Lecture
Description:
Attendance Recorded: No
Notes: These take place weekly and cover a diverse range of subjects.

Teaching Method 2 - Seminar
Description:
Attendance Recorded: Yes
Notes: These also take place weekly and follow on directly from the lectures, providing opportunities for questions and discussion connected to lecture themes, the weekly readings and assessments.

Teaching Method 3 - Field Work
Description:
Attendance Recorded: No
Notes: Fieldwork consists in a group visit to a political 'event', normally a full meeting of Liverpool City Council and constitutes an opportunity to see politics in practice.