30.09.2013 | Anja Grabovac

Mezinárodní Politika's Report: The challenges of participatory research

Wadi Allaqi is an unremarkable, dry riverbed in Upper Egypt, just one of many in Africa. It is inhabited by the Bedouins, indigenous nomadic tribes, who have been able to keep a unique way of understanding the world around them until today, which is what a European research team set out to study. But very soon it encountered a serious obstacle – since the society was Muslim, women would not talk with the male researchers. In order to progress, the team had to be expanded. Understandably, by a woman.

Joanne Sharp with background on postcolonial, feminist, cultural and political geographies was the perfect addition for a study involving participatory research. This appreciates the relationship between the researcher and community who both decide about the research process, data collection, analysis, and the outcomes. Every relationship faces challenges and the one between researchers and communities poses no exception, the question of time and search for proper focus group being just the top of the iceberg.

After Joanne became part of the research team, meeting Bedouin women was easier. Who could have known more obstacles would follow? Playful children made it almost impossible for the research to continue. They needed to be entertained and so the team started bringing paper and pens at each visit. Surprisingly, a new trend emerged as the children learnt how to write and read… and their mothers followed! 

However, this change brought problems of its own. Men were initially very uncomfortable with the thought of their wives reading documents or, let’s say, divorce papers. This situation escalated into proper gender tensions. Finally, the men gave in and started to learn how to read and write themselves, which brought huge changes to the whole community, especially concerning the role of women in it. It was them who were the drivers of this process, them who achieved a better position, and them again who gained more confidence within their households. Some may say this was a small achievement or claim it to be a hollow victory. However, it can by no means be denied that participatory research has much relevance for the world of today. Bedouins can confirm.

Do you want to hear more from Joanne Sharp? See the entire length of our exclusive interview with her!

Joanne Sharp

Joanne Sharp came to the University of Glasgow in January 1995 after finishing her PhD "Condensing the Cold War: Reader's Digest and American Identity" at Syracuse University at the end of 1994. Her research interests are in feminist, postcolonial, cultural and political geographies. Much of her research has been undertaken in Africa, most recently in Tanzania. Ms. Sharp is an active member of the Glasgow Centre for International Development, and co-ordinate the Environmental Management and Infrastructure research theme. She is currently the Political Geography section editor of Geography Compass and sit on the boards of Scottish Geographical Journal, Urban Studies and Space and Polity.

Author:

Anja Grabovac, PR and social-media interm at the Institute of International Relations (IIR)

Interview led by:

Vít Beneš, researcher at the Institute of International Relations with specialisation in EU enlargement, European integration, European  dimension of Czech Republic's foreign policy, and theories of European integration.




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