Researching and Working in Conflict-Affected Environments

1. Researching and Working in Conflict-Affected Environments Dr Eleanor Gordon (University of Leicester) March 2015 eg132@le.ac.uk https://uolscid.wordpress.com/

2. Bridging the Gap Between the Worlds of Academia and Practice Ultimately, it is hoped that by bridging the gap between academia and the field, efforts to understand and better respond to the challenges posed by conflict can be enhanced.

3. Kosovo

4. Practitioner Research - Nepal

5. Bangladesh

7. Bosnia and Herzegovina & Pakistan

8. Blogs

9. Overview • Complementary Skills • Shared Skills and Principles of Engagement • Similar Challenges and Lessons to be Learnt • Bridging the Gap – Necessary to Understand and Address the Challenges of Conflict

10. Complementary Skills • An awareness of how things work in practice – and the inherent complexities, contradictions and competing dynamics • Research and analytical skills, the ability to develop reasoned and balanced arguments supported with evidence, and an aptitude to critically engaging with dominant discourses

11. Shared Skills and Principles • Do No Harm • Planning and Conflict Analysis • Adaptability • People Skills • Management and Negotiation Skills • Build Trust

12. Shared Challenges • Logistical Constraints • Language Barriers • Security Concerns • Distrust and Suspicion • Power Relations • Trauma • Guilt

13. Do No Harm ‘Reflection on how you conduct research, to whom you talk and what you talk about is essential to avoid putting communities at risk.’ (Goodhand, 2000: 13)

14. Distrust and Suspicion • The power of knowledge • Perceived bias • Self-censorship • Fear • Expectations • Performance

15. Power Continuously reflect upon issues of power, including asking such questions as who the research is for, whose interests is it in and who can access it (Cramer, Hammond and Pottier, 2011).

16. Trauma, Stress and Insecurity It is necessary to have a prior understanding of the way that conflict-affected environments can impact emotions and cause stress, as well as regular self-reflection throughout the research process (Wood, 2006).

17. Guilt ‘Sometimes I don’t know what I’m doing here. Is this what research is about? ‘Extracting’ information from people to feed my own career? On these days, I really feel like a parasite, a disaster tourist making the inventory of human suffering and misery for my own personal benefit’ (Ansoms, 2012: 42). Helbardt, Hellmann-Rajanayagam and Korff (2010: 362) question whether ‘we unintentionally by merely looking into and reporting it, not only glamorize, but legitimize war’ and thus feed it by drawing attention to it.

18. Value The value of research in conflict-affected environments is in the ability for it to ‘shape perceptions, give voice to the voiceless and so prevent these conflicts becoming invisible-'war without witness'’ (Helbardt, Hellmann-Rajanayagam and Korff, 2010: 349). ‘Knowledge should not only build a researcher’s career or improve the publication output of a university, but it should yield benefits for our partners in the field.’ (Kappler, 2013: 137)

19. Bridging the Gap • Different worlds; different languages • Prejudices and expectations • Disassociation and ‘objectivity’ • Different priorities and audiences

20. Conclusion • Question privileged voices, expertise and legitimacy • Critically reflect upon our roles and broader peacebuilding and research endeavours • Ask what the aim of our research and work is and who, ultimately, we write or work for • Bridging the gap between the worlds of academia and practice can lead to a better understanding of and thus better response to the challenges of conflict and peacebuilding.