Though still relatively infrequent, there is a growing interest in CA as an anthropological, sociological and linguistic method for the study of non-western cultures and societies. While in Japan and China CA is undertaken mainly by mother-tongue and thus locally proficient researchers, research in non-native and cross-cultural contexts meets with a number of methodological and epistemological challenges, starting with questions of knowledge of the ‘foreign’ language, transcription and translation, recognition of relevant contexts, ethnography, triangulation of results, conflicting hermeneutics, etc. With this panel we intend to provide a space for a critical inventory of work that has been done or that is going on at present in this area. In taking up a point of view of researchers working in non-native contexts we expect to be able to contribute to ongoing but in recent years rather low key debates on some epistemological challenges, theoretical, conceptual and methodological gaps in CA which result from its overly strong focus on Western societies. Vice verse, the contribution of CA to ethnography and anthropology may be brought into view.
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