Abstract
BackgroundResearch partnerships in conflict-affected and humanitarian settings can reveal complex power hierarchies between academics and NGOs. During the process of research, decision-making may skew in favour of more powerful actors, who often direct the scope of the research, hold the budget and lead the analysis. Co-production is increasingly emerging as a helpful approach that attempts to equalise power dynamics during research. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the main challenges associated with a “research as usual” approach to research partnerships in humanitarian settings, as power hierarchies may be particularly magnified in these settings.MethodsThis paper is based on a comprehensive literature review and 32 semi-structured interviews with academics and practitioners from non-government organisations. Participants were selected purposively based on their experience in co-producing research or working within research partnerships. Some participants had worked in humanitarian settings while others had experience co-producing research in non-humanitarian contexts. We used Nvivo to thematically code data.ResultsThis paper documents the problems with “research as usual” partnerships in humanitarian settings, specifically: the burden on communities as merely sources of data, certain forms of knowledge being valued over others, lack of reflection on the power hierarchies structuring research partnerships, top-down decision-making and lack of transparency, one-way “capacity-building”, lack of mutual benefit, and rigid research processes and timeframes.ConclusionThis paper highlights key challenges with standard research practices in humanitarian settings and identifies seven key principles of co-production that can be helpful in attempting to equalise power dynamics within research partnerships, specifically in conflict-affected and humanitarian settings.
Highlights
The notion of “co-production” is increasingly identified as a means of tackling unequal power hierarchies
Of particular relevance for humanitarian settings was the reflection from one academic about “research fatigue” experienced by refugee communities: “People are very fatigued from being asked these same questions by researchers
Our study identified key challenges within ‘research as usual’, the burden on communities as merely sources of data, certain forms of knowledge being valued over others, lack of reflection on the power hierarchies structuring research partnerships, top-down decisionmaking and lack of transparency, one-way ‘capacitybuilding’, lack of mutual benefit, and rigid research processes and timeframes
Summary
The notion of “co-production” is increasingly identified as a means of tackling unequal power hierarchies. Originating from the work of Elinor Ostrom [1], coproduction emerged out of the recognition that more horizontal partnerships between the public sector and communities were needed to improve delivery of goods and services. There are many definitions for co-production of services, which vary between disciplines, including: “the process through which inputs used to produce a good or service are contributed by individuals who are not ‘in’ the same organization” [1]; “When you as an individual are involved as an equal partner in designing the support and services you receive” [2]; and “Co-production enables citizens and professionals to share power and work together in equal partnership, to create opportunities for people to access support when they need it and to contribute to social change” [3]. Co-production of public services has often been linked to the health sector, and has been associated with the notion of “public involvement” in decision-making about their health [7, 8]. The aim of this paper is to draw attention to the main challenges associated with a “research as usual” approach to research partnerships in humanitarian settings, as power hierarchies may be magnified in these settings
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