Both the image and the caption open a provocative ethnographic conversation concerning toxicity: what does it mean to love a contaminated place?But the picture and caption also suggest another question: how can the ethnographer let herself be affected by these paradoxical material-affective relationships? The caption not only recognizes the dilemma of toxicity and love but also suggests a methodological question about it, given that “most outsiders struggle to understand or believe the sincerity of this love.” How does an ethnographer attend to such suspicion—as it might be central to critical engagement—while offering space to be shocked, surprised, and moved by the uncomfortable?
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