ABSTRACT
In this chapter the author focuses on the techniques of ethnographic fieldwork combined with what practical theologians have begun to call 'reflective practice'. The author gathered data on twelve case studies of women's ritual, through a combination of interviews and participant observation. Telling the stories of women's experiences is not necessarily liberating in and of itself; they may be told in such a way that they reinforce gender stereotypes. Ethnography is telling a story, and the way in which that story is constructed and told becomes the object of scrutiny. Writing Culture was seen as marking a ground-breaking turn in ethnography, but was also criticized at the time of its publication for its exclusion of feminist perspectives. Donna Haraway uses the phrase 'the god-trick' for the illusion that it is possible to have an objective, overall view of truth. The chapter explores the connections between method and theology, arguing that the feminist methodology is consistent with a feminist liberation theology.
