Drawing Points, Tracing Lines: Writing Social Sciences Through Ethnographic Drawing
Dolorès Bertrais
What the paper says
This paper explores ethnographic drawing as both a methodological tool and an epistemological approach in the social sciences and more specifically in urban research. Based on fieldwork conducted in Phnom Penh (Cambodia) which follows the journey of a grain of sand from the Mekong riverbed to skyscrapers in the city, it examines how drawing, as a practice of in situ observation, can open new ways of seeing and perceiving urban transformation. Beyond its aesthetic dimension, in the social sciences, drawing offers a mode of inquiry that combines observation with care. It invites slowness and attention, helping the researcher to engage bodily involvement with the field. By restoring balance between thought and embodiment, drawing transforms perception into a relational and reflective act. As a practice, drawn ethnography goes beyond representation: it reshapes the researcher's gaze and makes visible the sometimes‐invisible textures, voices and so on, of everyday life. Ultimately, this paper argues that ethnographic drawing is not merely an illustration of research but a way of thinking, a means of organising understanding through lines, gestures and attention. It invites us to imagine research as a shared, sensorial and caring practice, capable of reconnecting knowledge with the worlds it seeks to grasp and describe.
Evidence weight
Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40
| F · citation impact | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
| M · momentum | 0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07 |
| V · venue signal | 0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03 |
| R · text relevance † | 0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20 |
† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.