Facilitating Researchers in Insecure Zones

Towards a More Equitable Knowledge Production

Oscar Abedi Dunia, Anju Oseema Maria Toppo, James B.M. Vincent

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN:
  9781350265653
• Edition: 1
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350265677
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Social Science Research & Methodology
• Index: Social Sciences

This volume brings together accounts from facilitating or 'brokering' researchers in three settings afflicted by armed conflict, including DR Congo, Sierra Leone and Jharkhand, India. Indispensable to the research practice carried out by so-called 'contracting researchers', who are often based in the Global North, it is these facilitating researchers who truly regulate the access and flow of knowledge, and yet are often referred to merely as 'fixers', with their contributions systematically erased in the final research texts.

This book recounts first-hand the varied and crucial roles played by such researchers, meanwhile bearing witness to the insecurities and scarce resources navigated by them in order to facilitate the research of others. By listening to and learning from their experiences, the book outlines different routes towards a more equitable fieldwork, and a more collaborative process of knowledge production.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Contents
• List of contributors
• 1 Introduction: Setting the stage
• 2 Getting and keeping engaged
• 3 The indispensable bridge: Without us no research
• 4 Systematically silenced and non-recognized
• 5 Managing various aspects of insecurity
• 6 Beyond a narrow North/South divide
• 7 Beyond the bleak picture
• 8 The need of change: What, how and who?
• References
• Index
• Imprint