The Authenticity Problem: Authenticity as a Methodological Trap in People-Centred Research on Working-Class Football Supporting Communities

The Authenticity Problem: Authenticity as a Methodological Trap in People-Centred Research on Working-Class Football Supporting Communities RESEARCH Archaeologies: Journal of the World Archaeological Congress ( 2024) https://doi.org/10.1007/s11759-024-09513-9 Josh Bland , Department of Archaeology, Cambridge Heritage Research Centre, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK E-mail: Accepted: 2 August 2024 ABSTRACT ________________________________________________________________ This paper seeks to make a methodological contribution to archaeological praxis of working-class communities, by illuminating how archaeologists engaged in oral history-based research with working-class communities may encounter authenticity as a methodological challenge. Drawing on my PhD research on football as cultural heritage, I will outline the authenticity problem I encountered in the field: the enforcement of hierarchies of authenticity by working-class football supporters in response to their experiences of marginalisation in the sport. In turn, I will not only show how these hierarchies of authenticity present obstacles to researchers looking to build relationships of trust with their subjects, but also indicate some solutions to this authenticity problem. Specifically, I will show how it is often useful to ‘‘fall into the trap of authenticity’’ as a researcher and use the interview setting to discursively construct yourself as authentic on your subject communities’ own terms. Résumé de Recherche: Le présent article s’efforce d’apporter une contribution méthodologique à la pratique archéologique des communautés ouvrières, en mettant en lumière la manière dont les archéologues se consacrant à la recherche axée sur l’histoire orale auprès des communautés ouvrières peuvent être confrontés à une difficulté méthodologique en raison de l’authenticité. Me fondant sur ma recherche de doctorat sur le football en tant que patrimoine culturel, je mettrai en exergue le problème d’authenticité auquel j’ai été confronté sur le terrain :  2024 The Author(s). This article is an open access publication ARCHAEOLOGIES ________________________________________________________________ JOSH BLAND la mise en place de hiérarchies d’authenticité par les supporters du football ouvrier en réaction à leurs expériences de marginalisation dans le sport. Par la suite, je démontrerai non seulement comment ces hiérarchies d’authenticité constituent des obstacles pour les chercheurs s’efforçant de tisser des relations de confiance avec leurs sujets de recherche, mais je proposerai également quelques solutions à ce problème d’authenticité. En particulier, j’exposerai comment il est souvent utile de « tomber dans le piège de l’authenticité » en tant que chercheur et d’utiliser le contexte de l’interview pour se construire soi-même de manière discursive comme authentique suivant les critères propres aux communautés de votre sujet. ________________________________________________________________ Resumen: En este artı́culo se busca hacer una contribución metodológica a la praxis arqueológica de las comunidades de la clase trabajadora, al arrojar luz sobre cómo los arqueólogos que participan en la investigación basada en la historia oral con comunidades de clase trabajadora pueden encontrar la autenticidad como un desafı́o metodológico. Basándome en mi investigación de doctorado sobre el fútbol como patrimonio cultural, describiré el problema de autenticidad que encontré en el campo: la imposición de jerarquı́as de autenticidad por parte de los aficionados al fútbol de la clase trabajadora en respuesta a sus experiencias de marginación en el deporte. A su vez, no solo mostraré cómo estas jerarquı́as de autenticidad presentan obstáculos para los investigadores que buscan construir relaciones de confianza con sus sujetos, sino que también indicaré algunas soluciones a este problema de autenticidad. En concreto, mostraré cómo a menudo resulta útil ‘‘caer en la trampa de la autenticidad’’ como investigador y utilizar el entorno de la entrevista para construirse discursivamente como auténtico en los propios términos de su comunidad de sujetos. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ KEY WORDS Authenticity, Football, Oral memory, Qualitative methodologies, Workingclass heritage, Social value _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Introduction As archaeologists have recognised the subjectivity of archaeological understandings of the past, oral history has become a key tool for understanding and collaborating with communities who have been marginalised by the traditional scientific epistemology of the discipline (Jones and Russell, The Authenticity Problem: Authenticity as a Methodological Trap 2012, pp. 271–272). As outlined by Tolson, the use of oral history in historical and contemporary archaeology falls into three broad categories (2016, p. 8). First, is the use of existing oral sources as evidence about the past. Second, is the collection of personal testimonies in the context of community involvement. Third, is the collection of personal testimonies as evidence in the interpretation of archaeological material. In all three contexts oral history is perceived as a tool to conduct fully rounded archaeological projects, facilitate an inclusive and collaborative approach to archaeological research and enhance the dynamic interpretation of archaeological finds by working directly with descendant communities and/or local populations (Carlton and Roberts, 2016, p. 46; Massheder-Rigby et al., 2020, p. 291; McDavid, 2003, pp. 307–208). In many cases, this will involve working directly with working-class communities. When engaging with such groups, it is essential that archaeological researchers have a strong methodological framework and are fully aware of the specific methodological challenges of carrying out oral history-based, qualitative research with working-class communities. For the last three years I have been working on a PhD thesis focussed on cultures of football support in the Northeast of England. To this end, I have spent several months in the field, collecting a series of oral histories from communities of working-class football supporters from across the region. Throughout my months in the field, the largest and most consistent methodological challenge I have faced is that of authenticity. Throughout my PhD, I have encountered different standards and scales of authenticity which have been imposed on me by my working-class subject community. I have had to decode, negotiate and ultimately perform my subjects’ understandings of ‘‘authenticity’’ to establish the (...truncated)