The Politics of Conducting Research in Africa: Ethical and Emotional Challenges in the Field

by Lyn Johnstone (Editor)

Overview

This edited volume investigates the ethical and emotional challenges of conducting fieldwork in Africa. It reflects on difficulties researchers face such as objectivity, access, gender issues and information risks. Focusing across a wide range of states and themes, the project makes an original contribution and builds upon existing strengths and insights in various disciplines by presenting research-practical insights from contemporary cases of fieldwork. As such, the book is an accessible and useful guide for students and scholars alike.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783319955315
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	08/29/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	400 KB

About the Author

Lyn Johnstone is Teaching Fellow at Royal Holloway University of London, United Kingdom.

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1. Chapter 1/Introduction: Conducting Fieldwork in Africa by Lyn Johnstone.- 2. Chapter 2. ‘Good That You Are One of Us’: Positionality and Reciprocity in Conducting Fieldwork in Kenya’s Flower Industry by Nungari Mwangi.- 3. Chapter 3. Being Familiar, and Yet Strange: Conducting Research as a Hybrid Insider-Outsider in Uganda by Christine van Hooft.- 4. Chapter 4. Multi-positionality and ‘Inbetweenness’: Reflections on Ethnographic Fieldwork in Southern Eastern Malawi by Maddy Gupta-Wright.- 5. Chapter 5. Landscapes of Desire: The Effect of Gender, Sexualized Identity and Flirting on Data Production in Rwanda and Zimbabwe by Lyn Johnstone.- 6. Chapter 6. Fieldwork and Emotions: Positionality, Method Choices and a Radio Program in South Sudan by Kerstin Tomiak.- 7. Chapter 7. Researching Diaspora Citizenship: Reflections on Issues of Positionality and Access from a Zimbabwean Researching Zimbabweans in South Africa by Langton Miriyoga.- 8. Chapter 8. Gatekeeping Success in the Namibian CBNRM Program by Carolin H. Stamm.- 9. Chapter 9. Failed Fieldwork in Senegal: Give Up or Continue by Elizaveta Volkova.- 10. Chapter 10. Negotiating Research Access: The Interplay Between Politics and Academia in Contemporary Zimbabwe by Joshua Pritchard

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“I heartily welcome the publication of this volume. Having attended the workshop where these researchers shared their stories and were encouraged to examine their own experiences for the sake of researchers that would follow, I can attest to the honest grappling that is behind the various chapters. I am impressed with the development of the ideas, and believe this to be an important contribution that will enhance research in many realms, in Africa and beyond.” (Martha Bridgma, Editor, The South African Journal of International Affairs)