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- Abedi Dunia, Oscar, et al.
(författare)
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Visibilising hidden realities and uncertainties : the ‘post-covid’ move towards decolonized and ethical field research practices
- 2023
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Ingår i: International Journal of Social Research Methodology. - : Routledge. - 1364-5579 .- 1464-5300. ; 26:5, s. 549-564
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article seeks to move beyond the Euro/North-centrism recurrent in methodological discussions on what we may learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. Such debates often centre on uncertainty and involuntary immobility – aspects which are hardly new for many researchers. In this article, we argue that the pandemic offers an opportunity to rethink research relations between what we term ‘contracting researchers’ in the Global North and ‘facilitating researchers’ in the Global South. Such relations are often marked by rampant inequalities in remuneration, working conditions, and visibility/authorship. Drawing upon experiences in DR Congo, Sierra Leone, and India, we argue that the pandemic increased the dependence on – and highlighted the invaluable contributions and skills of – facilitating researchers, in part slightly refiguring bargaining power. We also propose pathways for change, arguing for a strong collaborative approach and the need for institutional change, without discarding the responsibilities of individual researchers.
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| 3. |
- Bjarnesen, Jesper, 1977-, et al.
(författare)
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Introduction Urban kinship : the micro-politics of proximity andrelatedness in African cities
- 2018
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Ingår i: Africa. - Cambridge : Cambridge University Press. - 0001-9720 .- 1750-0184. ; 88:S1, s. S1-S11
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- African cities have long been perceived as emblematic of the vibrancy and contradictions that characterize public spheres in an African context – from breathtaking monuments of wealth and oppression to overwhelming destitution and despair; from vibrant market places and artistic expression to dilapidated infrastructures and rampant criminality. Through depictions of the hectic pace of different forms of movement – from the inner-city traffic that seems to be buzzing even in the midst of a complete standstill to public protests and food riots – African cities become lenses through which social and political life is assessed and synthesized; a canvas on which national politics and global inequalities are laid bare, for all to see. Indeed, the visual has long been the preferred prism for documenting and evoking the dynamism and decay of urban Africa. Many of these dualities hold some truths but have also contained the enduring simplifications of prejudice and exoticization. The ‘urban jungle’ is easily seen as the continent’s true Heart of Darkness; a pre-conceptualized dystopia (Robinson 2010); a micro-cosmos of the most frightening and fascinating facets of primitive humanity. This special issue challenges such simplifications by emphasizing everyday sociality, and by giving priority to the narratives and practices of urban residents themselves.
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| 4. |
- Christensen, Maya, et al.
(författare)
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Mercenaries of democracy : The 'Politricks' of remobilized combatants in the 2007 general elections, Sierra Leone
- 2008
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Ingår i: African Affairs. - 0001-9909 .- 1468-2621. ; 107:429, s. 515-539
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The 2007 general elections in Sierra Leone marked a decisive moment in the country's post-war recovery. In this article we show how political parties strategically remobilized ex-combatants into 'security squads' in order both to protect themselves and to mobilize votes. We look at the tactical and strategic motives behind ex-combatants' choice to join the political campaigning and the alternatives (such as 'watermelon politics'), and we also examine the deep distrust between politicians and ex-combatants. Focusing on politics as the domestication of violence, we shed light on the continuation of pre-war and war-time mobilization of youth into politics and demonstrate how electoral moments can legitimize violence. In hindsight, the 2007 elections strengthened the democratic process in Sierra Leone, but this article shows on what fragile ground this success was built.
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| 5. |
- Christiansen, Catrine, et al.
(författare)
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Youth(e)scapes : introduction
- 2006
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Ingår i: Navigating youth - generating adulthood. - Uppsala : Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.
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Bokkapitel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 6. |
- Eriksson Baaz, Maria, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring the Backstage : Methodological and Ethical Issues Surrounding the Role of Research Brokers in Insecure Zones
- 2019
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Ingår i: Civil Wars. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1369-8249 .- 1743-968X. ; 21:2, s. 157-178
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The contribution and situation of research brokers problematically tend to be shrouded in silence in most research texts. In this article we probe into the particular ethical and methodological challenges that we may encounter when working with brokers in conflict settings, drawing upon existing literature and contributions of this special issue. Reposing on post-colonial perspectives, we problematize both the increasing securitization of conflict research with its one-sided focus on researcher safety and the notion of researcher responsibility. Moreover, we argue that the inequalities marking researcher-broker relations are often particularly glaring in conflict settings, thus increasing the risk for exploitation.
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| 9. |
- Jörgel, Magnus, et al.
(författare)
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The Mano river basin area : formal and informal security providers in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone
- 2007
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Rapport (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- For the past 20 years the Mano River Basin (MRB) has been an area of violent upheavals and political instability. Although the area today enjoys peace in formal terms, life for many citizens of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea is one of immense struggle in poverty for a decent livelihood. Both Sierra Leone and Liberia are currently recovering from a decade of devastating civil strife that tore countries apart and caused massive death as well as destruction of private property and state struc-tures. Despite ample emergency and development funds from Western donors being dispensed into the region, surprisingly little real development can be observed. This can have a real effect on long-term security and stability. Guinea awaits the death of its President, and with him a totalitarian ruling system. The abundance of different strategy papers, development blueprints, comprehensive approaches, multidimensional Security Sector Reform (SSR) attempts and other donor-orchestrated development efforts indicate a great deal of international interest in dealing with the post-conflict situation in the MRB region. Unfortunately, direct outcomes remain uncertain and results from donor investment have not led to the social stability and security that have been wished for. This study describes the functions of the formal structures of the MRB states, the MRU, ECOWAS and the AU. It also looks into the informal networks that enmesh this formality. The study shows that it is the informal that pursues and carries the formal forward. It argues that without a thorough understanding of the concept of Big Men and informal net-works external actors will never be able to make any real contribution to how political and social matters unfold in the MRB area. If we do not support this knowledge with comprehensive capacity-enhancing assets, and if we do not continue doing this for a substantial length of time, there will be no real change in the security situation in the region.
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| 10. |
- Lindberg, Emy, 1985-
(författare)
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Dream Machine : an Ethnography of Football Migration between Ghana and Sweden
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis examines football migration between Ghana and Sweden. Based on multi-sited, transnational, part-time ethnographic fieldwork that spanned 22 months between 2017 and 2019, it focuses on the everyday realities of Ghanaian football migrants throughout their labor migration trajectory. At the same time, the thesis contextualizes these experiences within the larger historical processes of neoliberalism, colonialism, and the transatlantic slave trade. The theoretical framework draws on literature concerning dreams and aspirations, time and migration, family structures, race, and the enduring impact of colonialism. The thesis sheds light on the historical connection between Ghanaian and Swedish football as a colonial project, a national project, and a global postcolonial phenomenon, emphasizing the political economy of football migration. By zooming in on dreams and the footballing body, it then examines footballers as neoliberal entrepreneurs of themselves as well as objects of the industry’s racialized dreams. Next, the thesis draws attention to the temporal aspects of football migration, including institutional borders, capitalist timelines, and the time of the footballing body. The thesis goes on to explore family structures, particularly fatherhood, in the migratory and footballing context, showing how these structures are interconnected with the business interests of the global football industry. It further demonstrates how race and racialization are present in the Swedish footballing context and finally looks at return migration, investigating how migrant footballers seek to repay economic and social debts. As performers on a commercialized global stage, the footballers embody the dreams of people all over the world. They are commodified and seen as investments for the future, both by people at home and by those working in the industry. Their success generates profit and shows that the dream of migration and the dream of football can come true. This thesis uses the metaphor of the dream machine to understand how dreams operate both globally and locally. It examines the linkages between maintenance of the footballing body, transactions of care, practices of social inclusion and racialized exclusion, and the functioning of the global capitalist football industry. Doing so, it emphasizes the meaningfulness of the migration trajectory for individual footballers and their networks, placing these relationships at the very heart of the beautiful game.
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