Sherry B. Ortner's essay "Resistance and the Problem of Ethnographic Refusal" explores the limitations of ethnographic studies on resistance, arguing that many influential studies lack an ethnographic perspective. Ethnography, Ortner suggests, involves more than just fieldwork; it is an intellectual and moral stance that requires a thick understanding of another life world. She criticizes recent studies for their thinness, failing to capture the complexity and richness of resistance and culture. Ortner identifies three forms of ethnographic refusal: sanitizing politics, thinning culture, and dissolving subjects. She argues that these refusals lead to an inadequate analysis of resistance, as they overlook internal political complexities, cultural richness, and the agency of individuals. Ortner emphasizes the importance of thick ethnography to understand resistance fully, highlighting the need to explore the lived worlds of resistors and their cultural and historical contexts. She concludes by discussing the broader implications of these issues, including the crisis of representation in the human sciences and the challenges of understanding resistance in academic and colonial contexts.Sherry B. Ortner's essay "Resistance and the Problem of Ethnographic Refusal" explores the limitations of ethnographic studies on resistance, arguing that many influential studies lack an ethnographic perspective. Ethnography, Ortner suggests, involves more than just fieldwork; it is an intellectual and moral stance that requires a thick understanding of another life world. She criticizes recent studies for their thinness, failing to capture the complexity and richness of resistance and culture. Ortner identifies three forms of ethnographic refusal: sanitizing politics, thinning culture, and dissolving subjects. She argues that these refusals lead to an inadequate analysis of resistance, as they overlook internal political complexities, cultural richness, and the agency of individuals. Ortner emphasizes the importance of thick ethnography to understand resistance fully, highlighting the need to explore the lived worlds of resistors and their cultural and historical contexts. She concludes by discussing the broader implications of these issues, including the crisis of representation in the human sciences and the challenges of understanding resistance in academic and colonial contexts.