Identity, Agency and Fieldwork Methodologies in Risky Environments
Bringing together a unique set of narratives from social scientists who have been situated in risky environments, this volume discusses the moral and ethical dilemmas of doing fieldwork in environments that are characterised by insecurity.
These narratives are situated in the Global South, and the majority of the authors are themselves from the Global South, bringing both authenticity and originality to the scholarship in this book. Coming from the Global South can both facilitate and complicate navigating the complexity of doing research in places characterised by precariousness. The authors demonstrate how the morality of the moment and indigenous sensibility is often more pertinent than formal ethical considerations as stipulated by universities and other institutions. The authors are refreshingly honest about their own identity dilemmas, their choices to exit the field prematurely, and the raw emotions that emerged in the process of doing fieldwork in these settings.
This book is likely to be instructive to young researchers entering into fields that are risky, often with little instruction or supervision prior to doing so. It is also an excellent resource for more seasoned researchers who might have had comparable experiences and are keen to reflect on such research journeys. It will be an invaluable resource for teaching qualitative research across a wide spectrum of disciplines.
This book was originally published as a special issue of Contemporary Social Science.
Monique Marks is Head of the Urban Futures Centre at the Durban University of Technology, South Africa. Initially trained as a social worker, she writes predominantly in the field of criminology. She has published widely in the areas of youth social movements, ethnographic research methods, police labour relations, police organisational change and street level drug use. Her research is mostly ethnographic and takes place in spaces that are considered compromising or unsafe. She is also the founder of the KwaZulu-Natal Harm Reduction Advocacy Group.
Julten Abdelhalim is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Institute for Asian and African Studies at Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. Her research deals with revivalist Islamic movements and gender issues, citizenship studies, and youth in India and the Arab World. She is the author of Indian Muslims and Citizenship: Spaces for jihad in everyday life(2015).
Contemporary Issues in Social Science
Series editors: Jacqueline Barnes, Birbeck University of London, UK; John Connolly, University of the West of Scotland, UK
Contemporary Social Science,the journal of the Academy of Social Sciences, is an interdisciplinary, cross-national journal which provides a forum for disseminating and enhancing theoretical, empirical and/or pragmatic research across the social sciences and related disciplines. Reflecting the objectives of the Academy of Social Sciences, it emphasises the publication of work that engages with issues of major public interest and concern across the world, and highlights the implications of that work for policy and professional practice.
The Contemporary Issues in Social Science book series contains the journals most cutting-edge special issues. Leading scholars compile thematic collections of articles that are linked to the broad intellectual concerns of Contemporary Social Science, and as such these special issues are an important contribution to the work of the journal. The series editor works closely with the guest editor(s) of each special issue to ensure they meet the journals high standards. The main aim of publishing these special issues as a series of books is to allow a wider audience of both scholars and students from across multiple disciplines to engage with the work of Contemporary Social Science and the Academy of Social Sciences.
Most recent titles in the series:
Political Activism across the Life Course
Edited by Sevasti-Melissa Nolas, Christos Varvantakis and Vinnarasan Aruldoss
Crime and Society
Edited by Donna Youngs
Youths in Challenging Situations
Edited by Charalambos Tsekeris and Lily Stylianoudi
Sustaining Natural Resources in a Changing Environment
Edited by Linda Hantrais, Ruth Kattumuri and Ashley Thomas Lenihan
The Role of Grandparents in the 21st Century
Global Perspectives on Changing Roles and Consequences Edited by Ann Buchanan and Anna Rotkirch
Identity, Agency and Fieldwork Methodologies in Risky Environments
Edited by Monique Marks and Julten Abdelhalim
For a full list of titles in this series, please visit
www.routledge.com/Contemporary-Issues-in-Social-Science/book-series/SOCIALSCI
Identity, Agency and Fieldwork Methodologies in Risky Environments
Edited by
Monique Marks and Julten Abdelhalim
First published 2020
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ISBN 13: 978-0-367-18323-3
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Contents
David Canter
Monique Marks and Julten Abdelhalim
Aastha Tyagi
E. Ashley Wilson
Angela Leggett
Goedele A. M. De Clerck and Sam Lutalo-Kiingi
Sarwat Viqar
Julten Abdelhalim
Aya Nassar
Andreza Aruska de Souza Santos
Anne-Linda Amira Augustin
The following chapters were originally published in Contemporary Social Science, volume 13, issues 34 (December 2018). When citing this material, please use the original page numbering for each article, as follows:
Introduction
Introduction: identity, jeopardy and moral dilemmas in conducting research in risky environments
