Canadian Consortium on Human Security

My fieldwork in Spain and Morocco comprises the second phase of my research. I gained valuable experience in the first phase in Tanzania where I learned important lessons that have been very useful for my research Spain and Morocco. These included lessons of patience, maintaining a level of optimism and flexibility in approach and expectations.

Such lessons are important and are faced by every researcher in the field. However, there are several key challenges I wish to highlight.

My research focuses on marginalized peoples. In working with refugees and irregular migrants, I encounter a highly vulnerable population. During my work, I have seriously questioned my role as a researcher and confronted ethical questions of engagement. In observation tasks, the extent to which I participated in events has been difficult to manage. Also, my work with the policy process that shapes migrant lives, I have worked with the powerful and the elite. Not surprisingly, the point of view of this group forms a stark contrast with that presented by the marginalized. This presents important challenges in balancing perspectives and in dealing with advice frequently offered. Finally, in my encounters with both groups, establishing a relationship of trust and fruitful communication is an ongoing challenge.

Working with the Marginalized: Ethical Engagements

I was brought to this work through both activism and a concern for the social welfare of the poor. I hope that my research can begin to address some of the inequities that operate to further exclude people and to call attention to the ways in which policies often written in good faith with humanitarian objectives, actually work counter to enabling a full quality of life for many. In achieving these goals I am not emotionally disengaged from my work, and so working in the refugee camp in Tanzania or with street children who have crossed the border in Melilla, Spain, has been a difficult experience for me.

The difficulty lies largely in defining what my role as a researcher is. It is hard when faced with the abject poverty (but continuing hope and action) of children to believe that my dissertation about asylum and border security is going to make any difference in their daily lives. The reality is that it will not have an impact. I am uncomfortable with the reality that the data I gather from my work with them is more beneficial to me than it is to individuals I work with. This discomfort, which includes guilt, has a practical manifestation in that I am frequently unable to make a difference in their lives, even if I wanted to. There have been several instances where I am somewhere in the capacity as an observer but without the power to take any action. When asked for help in getting identification papers, for instance, or for getting a new door put into a house, my answer must always be that there is nothing I can do. Again, this is a difficult thing to take home at night. It is, however, often necessary as to do otherwise could both endanger my position as a researcher (including my permission to be present), and lead to negative consequences that my thus far limited experience does not let me foresee.

I have dealt with this discomfort and guilt by maintaining what I consider to be a basic ethic of engagement. First, I spend a good deal of time reminding myself that while I may not be able to help the individuals that I encounter, I am in a position where I may be able to effect change at the policy level, and thus possibly help those that come after. I have also decided that, in addition to my dissertation, I will write a report for each site - Tanzania, Spain, Morocco - in which I will summarize my findings and highlight particular areas of either concern or success. I will send these reports to my participants, including the policy makers and organizations that work in migration. In these reports I intend to make sure that the individual-level concerns that people have raised are included. In this way, I may also have an impact toward positive change.

Second, an ethical engagement includes being honest at all times about my role, and what I am able (or not) to do. I never make promises that I cannot keep; I have never promised “to do what I can” to help someone, as I recognize this as placatory. I have also tried to recognize what I can do, which is to facilitate the capacity of my participants to find a voice through my reports. My questions are open-ended, and in each interview I give participants the opportunity to take initiative and highlight not what I think the important issues are, but what they think they are. To effectively enable such a voice I must at all times resist the impulse to put statements into my own words or to shape statements so that they have “more impact.” I recognize that I bring a particular perspective to my work, and that in simply choosing what statements to include and highlight I am overlaying my own voice over those of my participants. By recognizing this I hope to minimize whatever negative impact I may have and contribute to facilitating a dialogue between the marginalized and the policy community.

Finally, I have attempted to work in an educational capacity. I have privileged access to public information in that I have the time and resources to be very well informed about the minutiae of history and policy in an area. Particularly in dealing with the marginalized population, this often means that while I am not better informed about what life is like as a migrant, I may know more about the bureaucratic processes and documents that migrants must navigate. In response to requests for help, I have been able to give informed advice and help people to find out what they need to do themselves – who they should talk to and what rights or obligations they have. I hope here to enable a more long-term solution for individuals. Also, it allows me to give back without compromising my position as a researcher.

Encounters with Power: Taking Advice?

Conducting elite interviews has been an interesting experience for me, as it has highlighted some of the ways that my position as a young female researcher is impacting my research.

The “elites” in my study are both policy makers and implementers. The majority of these individuals thus far have been men and have worked in their positions for a minimum of two years. I have found that this establishes a certain power dynamic with me. My relative youth and inexperience in the field in addition to my gender has meant that in conducting interviews I have been faced with the opinion that I do not know what I am doing, and that it is my participant's role to instruct me.

This has been a personal challenge for me as I try to earn the respect of those I work with. Perhaps more importantly, however, it has affected my collection of data. Some of the questions I ask have been ignored, and I have been told that I am not asking the right questions. More frequently, my elite participants have given me “advice” about how to engage with the marginalized populations. I have been told what issues to focus on based on what is “really important”, what questions to ask, and been warned that “those people” (the migrants, and occasionally other, “more biased” elites) will lie to me to their own strategic advantage. I have also been instructed in how to understand and interpret data.

I have found that striking a balance between healthy skepticism and taking people at their word has been difficult. It has been difficult, also, to effectively challenge contradictory information without violating the confidentiality of other participants. Flexibility is an important part of being in the field, and this extends to being willing to adjust questions and approaches. To what extent, though, should I adjust the questions I had intended to ask on the advice of my “expert” participants? Generally, I have adjusted my questions in response the information I receive during interviews and observation. If I am being strategically lied to, however, I am unsure to what extent it is a fruitful process.

There is no clear solution to this challenge. Rather, it requires a constant assessment and reassessment. I have remained focused on my initial plan. In interview design, I continue to be flexible in approach. However, when adjusting questions I don't delete or remove questions, only add them as needed. This maintains a baseline of consistency across interviews, and works to avoid being misled. Also, as a large part of what I am studying is the attitudes and ideas of actors, the advice I receive, who it is directed against and the attitudes it reveals, has become a valuable part of my data set.

Practicalities of Trust: Language, Presence, and Consent

The practicalities of doing research in another country present daily challenges. By far the greatest has been language. It is something that I face every day, and at every point of contact both in work and in daily life. I speak only introductory Spanish, and despite preparation before my departure, I have faced a very steep learning curve. While I do speak French, Arabic is the dominant language in the north of Morocco where I spend most of my time. Also, the migrant populations that I am working with have only limited French. Added to this, I am encountering many different groups of sub-Saharan African migrants who speak a variety of local dialects. This creates problems not only in communication and understanding but also in gaining the trust of my participants.

I have dealt with this challenge in multiple ways. Most important, I have approached the language barriers I face with good humour. I have found that people are very receptive if you are prepared both to try to communicate in Spanish, and to laugh at yourself. In many ways, the language barrier has served to break down other social barriers as my efforts (and laughter) have quickly established a positive relationship with the people I meet. My interviews have all been done in either English or French, but my initial efforts in Spanish have caused people to relax.

This facilitation of a more open relationship has also helped me in gaining the trust of my participants. For the elites, it seems to reinforce my status as a student and as a foreigner, which has actually made people more willing to discuss sensitive issues. For the marginalized populations, my struggles with the language of Spain mirror their own, and this has established a common ground between us.

Trust has also been a serious issue in explaining my presence, and in gaining the consent of the marginalized groups that I am encountering. I have found that many of the migrants live in a highly advanced state of fear and are seriously concerned about the consequences of speaking with me. I have addressed this by providing ways to contact me as well as simple and direct information - both verbal and written - that is precise about who I am and what I am doing. I had initially intended to record all of my interviews but the level of discomfort it was creating has caused me to put away the recorder and quickly improve my note-taking speed and accuracy.

Overall, I have found that my fieldwork has opened up new perspectives for me. When preparing to start research for my dissertation, I deliberately designed the project as broadly as possible with the intention of using my doctoral studies not as a self-contained project, but instead as the foundation for a career in this area. Thus far, I feel like I am moving toward this goal and I am meeting amazing and inspirational people in the process.