Introduction: Taking Ethnography into the Twenty-First Century

Postmodernist and poststructuralist perspectives on truth, objectivity and language will hopefully elicit constructive challenges to ethnography. Ethnographic assertions are often debatable and designed to increase understanding of various issues and values associated with ethnography. Confrontational and defensive exchanges between proponents of orthodox and unorthodox forms of ethnographic representation should be minimized. Instead, constructive discussions about the purposes and legitimate forms of ethnography should be encouraged.