‘It looks like an abandoned site!’: Emotions and imagination in a focused organisational ethnography of French–Italian construction sites

Abstract

This article explores the theme of embodied reflexivity in the construction industry – a field that has traditionally attracted limited attention from social scientists. It presents a focused organisational ethnography conducted at construction sites involved in the development of a mega tunnel designed to accommodate a cross-border railway line between two European countries. After establishing their presence in the field, the researchers focused on their bodies and their experience, the cognitive and emotional dimensions that emerged during fieldwork. They show in particular how these elements, when recognised as valuable resources, enabled a deeper understanding of the field. Among these, in particular, imagination emerged as a key capacity for fully comprehending the research context, especially in a setting where projecting into the future is integral to the execution of the work. The article advocates for a broader integration of imagination into ethnographic practice, arguing for its relevance across disciplinary boundaries.