Introduction by Editors: Power in Forced Migration Research Methods

Abstract

AbstractWhen it comes to field research in contexts of forced migration, many of the challenges relate to questions of power. Most research is plagued by a power imbalance between those who call themselves ‘researcher’ or ‘technical expert’ and the forced migrants who participate in the research in various ways. This Special Section considers how this imbalance influences the production of research and how we might address the challenges created by research practices that are exclusionary, even if unwittingly so. What, for example, are the politics of designing methods for research with/on refugees? What kinds of negotiations and gatekeeping take place in determining the assemblage of actors involved in crafting and carrying out the research? Who has a seat at the table to design the research, interpret results, and write up outcomes? The three contributing articles that follow this introduction each discuss strategies the authors deployed, i.e. how they attempted to upend dominant research practices by centreing the voices of migrants and refugees, and re-balancing power inequities. In this article, we offer an introduction to how this Special Section conceptualizes power in the context of research with forced migrants.