Friendship and collaborative autoethnography in times of violent conflict

In this collective autoethnography two academics who live in Israel explore the possibility of friendship across different social positions, religions and nationalities. The article describes how autoethnography and Denzin’s scholarship have made this friendship possible and deepened it. To this end, the article explores their journey within neoliberal Israeli, dominantly Jewish, academia, investigate the (im)possibility of authentic dialogue between an Israeli Jewish woman and a Palestinian Israeli woman in Israel in this moment of violence in Israel, and examine how Denzin’s scholarship and conferences have allowed them to explore these questions using autoethnography. Inspired by Denzin’s scholarship we use collective autoethnography as a methodology that is grounded in love, care, hope and forgiveness to dwell together in a fractured discussion about shattered time and space. Our time is fractured by past and present traumas and the fear of what the future holds. Our space has been damaged by violent conflict. The article concludes by discussing the importance of Denzin’s scholarship for critical social work researchers during violent conflicts.