Christoph Vogel discusses his recent book on conflict minerals in Eastern Congo, the campaign against unethical mining and the challenges of fieldwork in conflict zones.
If a researcher can safely conduct fieldwork using relational approaches, carefully mitigating potential risks and vulnerabilities, it could be an invaluable exercise.
Katerina Dalacoura considers civilisational and ideological developments in the MENA region, particularly in Turkey, as well as non-Western IR and the challenges of fieldwork.
Lydia Cole reflects on her fieldwork, affective failure and misrecognition, as well as her research using conflict textiles, encouraging the use of visual art and poetry in research.
It’s important to be aware that negotiations can be faced in the field before entering it and to know that such feelings of fear, failure, and discomfort are expected.
There is a need to problematise the notion of ‘failure’ through its reliance on and reproduction of reflexivity as a positioned practice advocated by scholars.
Fieldwork is, among many other things, messy, and deeply frustrating and failure is unavoidable. The feelings this produces are shared by many researchers.
Research institutions could provide training programmes that addresses the issue of a global pandemic in the context of carrying out research related activities such as fieldwork.
I realised that thinking about the impact my condition has on my work enables me to objectify my mental states, detach myself from these experiences and understand them.
We should strive for greater transparency in acknowledging the complexity of our fields, as well as the confusion our own situatedness can cause in the research process.
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