Facilitating Researchers in Insecure Zones: Towards a More Equitable Knowledge Production

Indispensable to the research practice carried out by so-called "contracting researchers," who are often based in the Global North, "facilitating researchers," often based in those conflict-affected areas of the Global South that contracting researchers are contracted to study, are usually the ones who truly regulate the access and flow of knowledge. Yet as often as not, they are referred to merely as 'fixers', with their contributions systematically erased in final research texts. Facilitating Researchers in Insecure Zones brings together first-hand accounts by several facilitating or "brokering" researchers in three settings afflicted by armed conflict--namely, DR Congo, Sierra Leone and Jharkhand, India--in order to highlight the varied and crucial roles they play. In so doing, this volume also bears witness to the insecurities and resource-scarcities they have to navigate in order to facilitate the research of others. Ultimately, their experiences and insights point to more equitable fieldwork and more collaborative processes of knowledge production. For its first-hand accounts of fieldwork in insecure zones, as well as for its diverse geographical and topical coverage, this book is a must-read for researchers and students researching interested in ethnographic and fieldwork methods and ethics, particularly as they apply to conflicts and to research in the Global South.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Spotlight on the Research Backstage: Introduction by the editors Chapter 2: Getting and keeping engaged Chapter 3: The indispensable bridge: “without us no research” Chapter 4: Systematically silenced and non-­-recognized Chapter 5: Navigating insecurity with scarce resources Chapter 6: Beyond a narrow South/North divide Chapter 7: Beyond the bleak picture: Comraderie into the Future Chapter 8: Recommendations: how to bring about change?

About the Author :
Oscar Abedi Dunia is an independent researcher and President of the NGO Aide Rapide aux victimes des catastrophes et Recherche (ARCV), based in South Kivu, DR Congo. He has worked with researchers from Europe and the US, as well as with journalists, the UN mission, and various international humanitarian organizations. Anju Oseema Maria Toppo is Assistant Professor in the Department of History, St. Xavier’s College, Ranchi, in Jharkhand, India. She is also active in the social and resistance movements of the Adivasi (indigenous) population of Jharkhand. James B.M. Vincent is a researcher and consultant on governance, development and conflict-related issues, youth development and employment creation programmes, and agriculture in Sierra Leone and the Mano River region. Maria Eriksson Baaz is Professor in Political Science at the Department of Government, Uppsala University, Sweden. Swati Parashar is Associate Professor in Peace and Development at the School of Global Studies, Gothenburg University, Sweden. Mats Utas is Professor in Cultural Anthropology at Uppsala University, Sweden.

Review :
Facilitating Researchers in Insecure Zones is a compelling and innovative book that highlights the unequal relationship between Contracting Researchers and Facilitating Researchers engaging in research in conflict-affected countries. Examples from experiences in Sierra Leone, India and DR Congo are used to discuss the types of inequalities in the research process, from the conceptualization of the research to the publication of the research findings and analysis, including the funding of the research. It is an invaluable resource for researchers to establish a good and equal relationship prior to future research endeavors. Facilitating Researchers sheds needed light on the plight of unsung heroes, those Global South scholars who despite their role in shaping the production of knowledge are hardly acknowledged. It is a timely decolonial intervention that charts a new course for doing ethical and more equitable fieldwork in the Global South. For anyone interested in global postcoloniality, this is a wonderful and must-read book by mainly Global South-based researchers on North-South knowledge production. Rooted in Global South sites of armed conflict, the book’s contributions are all the more compelling – and therefore all the more insightful – on the perils and potentialities of researcher relationships and knowledge co-production across the North-South, elite-subaltern, war-peace, and class/gender/ethnic/racial divides. This book catalyses transformative thinking about the ethics and practice of equitable research partnerships between researchers in the global north and global south. It brings together compelling chapters by researchers from Sierra Leone, Congo and Jharkhand who share their reflections of working in insecure zones through multiple relationalities between communities and institutions across diverse spatial contexts and social hierarchies. This book is a must read for scholars and practitioners of international development and international relations who are looking for practical and actionable ways for decolonising research methods in conflict and post conflict settings. This volume provides an honest, useful analysis for researchers from various disciplines on the difficult question of collaboration between research teams. The various chapters provide powerful accounts and innovative approaches to understanding the complex relationships between those who make research possible in often very difficult contexts and in some cases in their communities where research is conducted who they call ‘facilitating researchers’, and those from ‘Contracting researchers’ often from outside the researched communities. The examples drawn from lived experiences are rich as they are from various countries in Africa, and Asia but also reflect on dilemmas familiar to researchers globally. Unlike most literature on similar topics, the volume concludes with practical ideas that point to more hopeful future pathways to navigate these ethical challenges during the research process in sensitive contexts.