Any port in a storm: fieldwork difficulties in dangerous and crisis-ridden settings

Abstract

Russia, as part of an international comparative examination of health and safety regulatory enforcement in the shipping industry. We discuss the difficulties faced by fieldworkers in ensuring personal safety and maintaining rapport with research respondents in conditions characterized by danger and crisis; a situation made worse by the murder of one of our key gatekeepers. We develop a provisional conceptual framework which draws distinctions between the 'frontier'-like nature of settings associated with some research areas, the challenges posed by researching institutions faced by various kinds of crisis, and the sensitivity of the specific research topic in question. We argue that a combination of these dimensions produce particular social spaces, which we term 'risksaturated', which are especially corrosive of relations with respondents, and which may pose very real physical threats to fieldworkers. K E Y W O R D S : crisis-ridden institutions, dangerous fieldwork, respondent rapport, risk, sensitive research topics A RT I C L E 155

Frontier geography: Fieldwork in the Soviet border zone

“…The number of articles narrating field experiences in various contexts has recently increased (Driver 2000;DeLyser & Starrs 2001;Dewsbury & Naylor 2002;Stoddart & Adams 2004;Matless et al 2008;Powell 2008;Robinson 2010), building on the interpretation of science within a broader cultural context (Beer 1996). It has also been pointed out that fieldwork can be hazardous, especially in frontier-like settings, where the field scientist faces various risks, ranging from the sensitivity of the specific research topic to personal hazards (Belousov et al 2007). The complexity of the gender aspect and security (Rose 1992;Bracken & Mawdsley 2004) is highlighted when the border experiences during fieldwork in the Soviet frame are discussed.…”

Survival of the Fastest: Ethical Dilemmas in Research with ‘Boy Racers’

“…Ireland (Brewer and Magee, 1991;Sluka, 1990) homelessness (Arrigo, 1995), security staff (Winlow et al 2001), graffiti artists (Ferrell, 1998), pizza delivery employees (Kinkade and Katovich, 1997), bicycle messengers (Fincham, 2006), white-water rafting (Holyfield, 1999) and the shipping industry (Belousov et al 2007;Sampson and Thomas, 2003). Thus fieldwork remains, no matter what its risks, the essential method for uncovering the situated meanings of crime and deviance (Ferrell and Hamm, 1998).…”

Keeping Academic Field Researchers Safe: Ethical Safeguards

“…Examples of personal safety risks to field researchers include a case study by Belousov et al (2007) where they report the murder of a key gatekeeper at the beginning of the fieldwork; and a PhD student who was imprisoned without trial in Africa while on fieldwork (Bloor et al, 2010). Collecting data in these situations is indeed risky and universities take considerable steps to protect the field researcher.…”