As the first UK-based centre dedicated to ethnographic research in politics, CPE promotes the use of ethnographic methods in political science and fosters interdisciplinary dialogue among researchers studying politics in its various dimensions in everyday life.
The Centre for Political Ethnography (CPE) is the first UK-based centre dedicated to promoting ethnographic research in political science. Based in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Southampton (PAIR), CPE brings together an interdisciplinary community of researchers using fieldwork-based methods to explore politics in everyday life. Our members work across disciplines including political science, sociology, anthropology, law, geography, criminology, and cultural studies. CPE is a hub for collaboration, training, and dialogue, committed to grounded research and fostering inclusive, critical conversations about political life.
Learning from experience is at the heart of practical wisdom, and it is how public servants pick up their political nous.
With its commitment to careful listening and close attention to the lived experiences of those we study, ethnography offers a unique vantage point that no other method in the social sciences can provide. It allows us to observe the behind-the-scenes of political life in practice and grants us the privilege of entering and understanding the worlds of individuals who are often unheard or silenced. For me, it is a great honour to continue promoting Professor Rod Rhodes’s vision through CPE, advancing ethnography as an essential method for social scientists—including political scientists.
