Refugee research in the shadow of fear
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Refugee research in the shadow of fear Pablo S. Bose
Accepted: 16 November 2020 Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract What does it mean to conduct communitybased and praxis-oriented research at a time when those whose lives you study and with whom you work are the subjects of increasing levels of xenophobia, marginalization, and demonization? How does one conceive of research ethics, of the relationship between the roles of scholars, teachers, and citizens in light of such dynamics? In what ways can scholarship help to intervene in the world around us, in particular to improve the perception and amplify the voices of marginalized groups and individuals? This paper considers these issues in the context of research ethics and the growing field of community geography. I draw in particular on an example from a multi-year study of refugee resettlement in non-traditional destinations across the US. When the study began, refugee policies and settlement patterns were little known to the general public in the US. Since then, refugees and migration more broadly have become increasingly prominent and controversial worldwide. In this paper I explore some of the challenges regarding collaborations between university researchers and community partners, highlighting the tensions exposed through the use of the visualization technique known as Photovoice, meant to provide alternative
P. S. Bose (&) Department of Geography, University of Vermont, 200 Old Mill Building, 94 University Place, Burlington, VT 05405, USA e-mail: [email protected]
perspectives on ideas for urban change amongst participants. I also consider some ideas for steps to address these challenges, including the building of networks and training for researchers and formalized partnership processes for community groups. Keywords Refugees Research ethics Community geography Photovoice Xenophobia
Refugee research in the shadow of fear My friend the professor!’’ exclaimed one of the participants in the PhotoVoice session about to begin, ‘‘What do you have for us this time? What do you want to learn about? What we eat? Where we go? How we get there? I hear you want us to take some pictures, is that right? What are you going to do with them? Hey, as long as you give us those giftcards, right? I’m trading you these stories for a giftcard, am I right? But they’re still my stories and you gotta do right by me when you tell them. Such exchanges are not uncommon for me in my work, especially with community members who I have encountered across multiple contexts and perhaps even multiple projects. Some of these projects have been initiated by me and others by my community
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partners. It has taken long to build trust and relationship so that this kind of banter is not fraught but rather at least superficially playful. But at the same time, it reminds me of the complex dynamics that researchers must keep in mind when we enter the field and work with diverse communities. Research ethics is about so much more tha
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