From Maverick to Mainstream: Autoethnography’s Place in Legal Research

Abstract

Autoethnography, a research method that uses lived experience as data, has grown steadily in prominence over the past two decades. Once a marginal approach, autoethnographic research is now recognised across disciplines, with dedicated conferences, textbooks and journals. Legal scholarship has begun to engage with autoethnography more recently, with applications emerging across legal education, legal practice, and doctoral research.

This growing body of work represents a welcome methodological expansion within the legal academy. At the same time, it marks a critical moment for autoethnography’s development in law. As interest in the approach increases, three interrelated challenges have become apparent. First, autoethnography is sometimes conflated with reflective or autobiographical writing, overlooking the thick description and analytical rigour the method demands. Second, to date, the breadth of autoethnographic practice remains underutilised within law; the field has yet to engage fully with the diversity of forms and frameworks available. The third and most complex challenge relates to ethical risk. Questions of researcher vulnerability and self-care remain insufficiently addressed within legal autoethnography.

This paper traces the emergence of autoethnography in legal research and offers a critical examination of its possibilities, its perils, and the ethical complexities that accompany its practice. In doing so, it argues for a more methodologically informed and ethically attentive engagement with autoethnography in law.