An introduction to video methods in organizational research

Video has become a methodological tool of choice for many researchers in social science, but video methods are relatively new to the field of organization studies. This article is an introduction to video methods. First, we situate video methods relative to other kinds of research, suggesting that video recordings and analyses can be used to replace or supplement other approaches, not only observational studies but also retrospective methods such as interviews and surveys. Second, we describe and discuss various features of video data in relation to ontological assumptions that researchers may bring to their research design. Video involves both opportunities and pitfalls for researchers, who ought to use video methods in ways that are consistent with their assumptions about the world and human activity. Third, we take a critical look at video methods by reporting progress that has been made while acknowledging gaps and work that remains to be done. Our critical considerations point repeatedly at articles in this special issue, which represent recent and important advances in video method

Translated Justice? The Ixil Maya and the 2013 Trial of José Efraín Ríos Montt for Genocide in Guatemala

This article takes an ethnographically engaged, discourse-centered approach to questions of representation and cultural difference in democratic process in postwar Guatemala. When José Efraín Ríos Montt became the first former head of state convicted of genocide within his own country, in 2013, Ixil Maya witnesses who testified against him became international human rights icons. However, the trial was marked by difficulties in communication between Ixil witnesses and non-Ixil lawyers, judges, and observers. “Miscommunications” resulted from diverging forms of speech that are deeply connected to different identities and ways of experiencing and understanding history. Discursive expectations within the courtroom limited recognition of Ixil ways of speaking and, consequently, of Ixil subjects. These expectations also obscured Ixil contestations to systems of power both inside and outside the courtroom. This analysis calls attention to the central role of language in processes of justice and political activism in solidarity with marginalized populations. [discourse-centered approach, genocide trial, Ixil, Maya, Guatemala]