On the Problem of Over-researched Communities: The Case of the Shatila Palestinian Refugee Camp in Lebanon

Abstract

Concerns about the problem of over-research have been reported in communities around the world, and across a wide range of fields of social science research practice for decades. Yet, despite this, over-research remains under-addressed by social scientists as a significant research concern. In this article, we discuss the problem of over-research as articulated by the residents of the Shatila Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon – a camp which is probably one of the most heavily researched neighbourhoods anywhere, and certainly within the Palestinian diaspora. Concerns voiced by Shatila residents focus on three issues, in particular: the relationship of research to expectations and promises of social change; alienation from researcher practices and questions and misgivings about researcher identities and agendas; and the impact of research on social relationships and identities within the Shatila camp itself.

The suppression of welcome

“…Research engages in representations of its own, and we should always be mindful of the representational politics involved in attempting to speak on behalf of others. Researchers are increasingly required to generate measurable and demonstrable impact, which can instrumentalise relationships between refugee communities and researchers in uncomfortable and inappropriate ways, contributing to the alienation of research subjects and to research fatigue (Sukarieh & Tannock 2013). Refugee communities themselves have raised concerns about these risks and called for vigilance among those seeking to work with asylum seekers and refugees.…”

The humanitarian infrastructure and the question of over‐research: reflections on fieldwork in the refugee crises in the Middle East and North Africa

“…Acknowledged as an issue across a wide variety of geographical locations and disciplines, reports of over‐research are most frequent among minorities and poor, indigenous and crisis‐stricken communities (Neal et al . ; Sukarieh and Tannock ). While critical ethnographers like Smith () have highlighted the colonial continuities that characterise protracted and repeated fieldwork among indigenous and minority groups (see Sukarieh and Tannock ), sociologists like Clark () have looked at over‐research primarily as a methodological question.…”

“…; Sukarieh and Tannock ). While critical ethnographers like Smith () have highlighted the colonial continuities that characterise protracted and repeated fieldwork among indigenous and minority groups (see Sukarieh and Tannock ), sociologists like Clark () have looked at over‐research primarily as a methodological question. The latter in particular has documented how the frequency and redundancy of research practices induce ‘fatigue’ and frustration, negatively affecting the research relation and the quality of data.…”

“…Other translation and research assistance services are rather informal, involving individuals with very limited or no specialised training at all. In their work on the Shatila refugee camp, in Lebanon, Sukarieh and Tannock () describe the case of Randa, ‘a camp resident who makes most of her income by arranging, transcribing and translating interviews with other residents’ and who said she worked with ‘10 academic researchers every year’ (Sukarieh and Tannock , 13). I encountered similar examples of refugees’ economic agency in Cairo.…”

“…Jordan's ‘over‐research emergency’ is in fact far from an exception. Since the 2011 uprisings, consequent geopolitical instability and mass displacements, complaints about over‐research have been reported throughout the Middle Eastern and North African region (Sukarieh and Tannock ; see also Abaza 2012; Ahmadzadeh et al . ).…”