Vacuums with Meaning: The Observation of Vacuity in Coworking Spaces
Abstract
This field report analyzes the unexpected challenges faced during participant observation in coworking spaces and how these challenges required a process of trial and error to be understood. Between 2018 and 2022, I studied the urban transformation of the Poblenou district of Barcelona, Spain. During my ethnographic observations, the coworking spaces did not align with the criteria of collaboration and social density established by previous research. This finding prompted methodological reflections on the role of ethnography, emphasizing the need to acknowledge that ethnographic research does not follow a standard formula, but rather requires continuous adaptation and interest in the evolving empirical reality.
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