Fieldwork Workshop: becoming fluent field researchers in International Politics

 In this workshop we will explore what it means to become fluent in fieldwork and what responsible fieldwork looks like, focusing on questions related to the practicalities of learning and practicing fieldwork. At the heart of this lies the question of what is good/ethical/responsible fieldwork today and how has International Politics equipped you (or limited you) as a researcher for doing such fieldwork? What kinds of questions does fieldwork allow us to answer? More generally we will be reflecting back on the centenary of International Politics, by focusing on the relevance of fieldwork in International Politics, to what extent it is acknowledged within the discipline and how it should feature within this going forward.

Generally speaking, the continuum of ethical fieldwork ranges from meeting institutional guidelines and getting the approval of the ethics committee at a minimum; to more extensive approaches arguing for the need to ‘give back’ to research participants as a way of doing good fieldwork. In the workshop we hope to discuss where our own fieldwork practices sit on this continuum, as well as how fieldwork is acknowledged within International Politics. If the emphasis on the everyday has become more visible in IR and ethnographic research approaches are considered to be promising ways of studying lived experiences, then why is fieldwork still marginal in the discipline? Why do numbers trump human stories?

The workshop has an open format in which participants can either present a paper reflecting on these questions (3000-5000 words); detailing the role of fieldwork in their research; or share personal experiences and dilemmas in preparing for or undertaking fieldwork.

Topics and questions can include – but are not limited to:

* How has being situated in the field of International Politics contributed to learning and doing fieldwork? What is the place of fieldwork in IP now? What new insights can it bring to the discipline?

* What is good or ethical fieldwork today? Which guidelines do you follow and how can this be incorporated into the research? What constitutes good fieldwork for you?

* Ways of relating with interview participants: reflections on ‘giving back’ as a component of, as some would argue, ethical/responsible fieldwork

* What is your journey of becoming a field researcher and what are the steps that have particularly helped you in ‘becoming fluent’ in fieldwork?

Abstracts (200-300 words) can be sent to the Karijn van den Berg (kav7@aber.ac.uk) or Birgit Poopuu (bip3@aber.ac.uk) by the 15th of May.