The Authenticity Problem: Authenticity as a Methodological Trap in People-Centred Research on Working-Class Football Supporting Communities

This paper seeks to make a methodological contribution to archaeological praxis of working-class communities, by illuminating how archaeologists engaged in oral history-based research with working-class communities may encounter authenticity as a methodological challenge. Drawing on my PhD research...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Archaeologies Vol. 20; no. 3; pp. 666 - 689
Main Author: Bland, Josh
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: New York Springer US 01.12.2024
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Anthropology
Archaeology
Authenticity
Community
Credibility
Cultural Heritage
Deindustrialization
Enforcement
Football
Hierarchies
Interviews
Marginality
Methodological problems
Oral history
Praxis
Qualitative research
Research methodology
Researcher subject relations
Researchers
Soccer
Social Sciences
Sports
Supporters
Working class
United Kingdom > UK
England
Authenticity
Working-class heritage
Qualitative methodologies
Social value
Football
Oral memory
ISSN:1555-8622, 1935-3987
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This paper seeks to make a methodological contribution to archaeological praxis of working-class communities, by illuminating how archaeologists engaged in oral history-based research with working-class communities may encounter authenticity as a methodological challenge. Drawing on my PhD research on football as cultural heritage, I will outline the authenticity problem I encountered in the field: the enforcement of hierarchies of authenticity by working-class football supporters in response to their experiences of marginalisation in the sport. In turn, I will not only show how these hierarchies of authenticity present obstacles to researchers looking to build relationships of trust with their subjects, but also indicate some solutions to this authenticity problem. Specifically, I will show how it is often useful to “fall into the trap of authenticity” as a researcher and use the interview setting to discursively construct yourself as authentic on your subject communities’ own terms.
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ISSN:1555-8622
1935-3987
DOI:10.1007/s11759-024-09513-9