In Praise of Subjectivity: My involvement with autoethnography, and why I think you should be interested.

Abstract

This article is adapted and developed from the author’s inaugural professorial lecture University of Bolton, delivered twice – in November 2022 and March 2023. With the intention to speak directly to readers, Grant begins by defining and unpacking autoethnography, before turning to its component parts, and its historical emergence and philosophical underpinning. He then provides an answer to the question: ‘Why do autoethnography?’ This enables him to overview his single- and joint-authored autoethnographic work from recent years, and his current work, which links to collegiate relationships at the University of Bolton and beyond. After rebutting the main criticisms levelled against autoethnography, the author ends the article by briefly mentioning its international status in 2023.