This volume aims to unsettle the silence that surrounds fieldwork failure in both methods training and academic publications. While fieldwork has gradually evolved into standard practice in IR research, the question of possible failures in field-based knowledge production remains conspicuously absent from both graduate training and writing in IR. This volume fills that lacuna by engaging with fieldwork as a site of knowledge production and inevitable failure. It develops methodological discussions in IR in two novel ways. First, it engages failure through experience-near and practice-based perspectives, with authors speaking from their experiences. And secondly, it delves into the politics of methods in IR and the discipline more generally to probe ways in which the realities of research condition scholarly claims. Contributors Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Lydia C. Cole, Jan Daniel, Sezer İdil Göğüş, Johannes Gunesch, Danielle House, Xymena Kurowska, Ewa Maczynska, Emma Mc Cluskey, Holger Niemann, Amina Nolte, Desirée Poets and Renata Summa.

Using detailed insights from those with first-hand experience of conducting research in areas of international intervention and conflict, this handbook provides essential practical guidance for researchers and students embarking on fieldwork in violent, repressive and closed contexts. Contributors detail their own experiences from areas including the Congo, Sudan, Yemen, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Myanmar, inviting readers into their reflections on mistakes and hard-learned lessons. Divided into sections on issues of control and confusion, security and risk, distance and closeness and sex and sensitivity, they look at how to negotiate complex grey areas and raise important questions that intervention researchers need to consider before, during and after their time on the ground.

Visual politics and the aesthetic turn in international relations have emphasized the power of the image in world politics. Postcolonial and decolonial feminist theory shows the urgent need to rethink research and teaching methods. What happens when these concepts converge and such thinking is translated into practice? Engaging with a broad range of topics – the politics of everyday life, health, HIV/AIDS, Africa, post-colonialism, gender/feminist theory, visuality, film, and method – in Seeing Politics Sophie Harman looks at scholars who are pushing the boundaries of how they do research, how they communicate their research to a broader audience, and what counts as scholarship in world politics. Through a detailed exploration of the political process of film production, from inception and co-production to distribution and exhibition, she addresses the tricky transnational relationships, government gatekeeping, and global hierarchies of film governance that control and marginalize the stories and people we see. Fundamentally, Seeing Politics is about how narrative feature film challenges and advances the discipline of international relations, revealing aspects of politics that would otherwise remain unseen and unaddressed. Film is not just a way of communicating research. It is a method that produces research and visibility, advancing research practice and knowledge in international relations. Innovative and compelling, this book is about the politics of seeing, being seen, and what stops us from seeing.

At a time when far, radical, and extreme-right politics are becoming increasingly mainstream globally – sometimes with deadly consequences – research in these fields is essential to understand the most effective ways to combat these dangerous ideologies. Yet engaging with texts and movements that do physical and verbal violence raises a number of urgent ethical issues. Until recently, this has remained understudied, as scholarship on the far right rarely delves explicitly and critically into the ethics of research. This book seeks to remedy this significant gap in an otherwise extensive and growing literature. Originating from a workshop series in 2020, in which an international group of academics at various career stages shared the ethical challenges and best practices they had developed in their research, this edited collection draws together insights from these ongoing conversations, offering urgent critical reflections on key ethical issues.

`Every now and then one stumbles across a breath of fresh air and this practical research guide is certainly one of them!.. It will be no doubt refreshing for those of us who keep going to the field and who perhaps have forgotten the human dimension of research. For those who supervise students the book will be a useful source of inspiration.... I shall certainly recommend the book to any of my students' - Development and Change `Development Fieldwork is an excellent examination of and preparation for development research and will be an invaluable guide to all those entering or considering fieldwork, wherever that may be' - Progress in Development Studies `I would strongly recommend it as a field textbook across a range of disciplines and topics. The tone is thoughtful, engaging and pragmatic, with all of the chapters contributing equally to a very high quality publication. It is the best book I have read on fieldwork for a while. It is essential for anyone contemplating 'development' based study, but it also contains a great deal of value and interest to geographers, sociologists and other students working in and on the West' - Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 'This is an outstanding book, and one that all of us engaged in fieldwork in "developing countries" will want to read and doubtless re-read. Thoughtful, relevant and consistently well-written' - Professor Stuart Corbridge, London School of Economics and University of Miami 'An excellent overview of the pitfalls and problems of fieldwork in remote places... elegant and enjoyable, incisive and elegant... good humoured and eminently practical - the "Lonely Planet" guide to the field' - Professor John Connell, Sydney University 'A very welcome and richly inviting review of the politics, ethics and practicalities of fieldwork, Development Fieldwork deserves reading in many 'fields'. This will surely travel far' - James D Sidaway, National University of Singapore 'I warmly commend this guide to anyone planning or even thinking about fieldwork in the Third World. Postgraduates and academics will find it particularly good, as it not only raises an abundance of practical and logistical points but explores fundamental ethical and epistemological concerns to an unusual degree, including issues not addressed elsewhere. The clarity and attention to detail are also very welcome, as is the ease with which the book can be navigated' - Janet Townsend, University of Durham `Developmental Fieldwork provides a useful guide packed with information on practical and personal (and sometimes political) matters. As with all good `rough' guides, rather than fixing options and closing issues, the authors make it a point to suggest flexible itineraries across the terrain of the `field'. The book should in time become a well-thumbed, dog-eared volume, thrown into the haversack along with the notebook (both sorts), tape recorder, mosquito repellent, sunglasses and sturdy shoes' - Brenda S A Yeoh, National University of Singapore 'A good introductory text that will assist the novice development researcher to prepare for a new experience and will also provide a timely reminder for more experienced researchers' - Evaluation Journal of Australasia Development Fieldwork provides an indispensable new resource and guide for all students undertaking development fieldwork in the Third World. Accessible and lively, the text: - introduces the basics of research design and methodology together with guidance on choosing the best research methods; - provides `hands on' advice (practical, personal and ethical) to those preparing to enter `the field'; - covers the initial planning and preparation stages to end writing up and tips for the successful resumption of life back home. The authors draw upon a rich and diverse set of fieldwork experiences across the developing world (rural and urban) and utilize case studies to illustrate the many common issues and challenges that will face both new and experienced fieldwork researchers. It will be an essential text and companion to all postgraduate and research students across the social sciences.

Drawing together international experts on research methods in International Relations (IR), this Handbook answers the complex practical questions for those approaching a new research topic for the first time. Innovative in its approach, it considers the art of IR research as well as the science, offering diverse perspectives on current research methods and emerging developments in the field.

This handbook will raise awareness about the importance of health and well-being of people with disabilities in the context of the global development agenda: Leaving No-one Behind. There has been a growing discussion on how people with disabilities should be included in the global health landscape. An estimated one billion people have some form of disability, 80% of whom live in low- and middle-income settings. People with disabilities are more likely to be poor, with restricted access to health and social services, education, rehabilitation and employment. Despite this, people with disabilities are often overlooked in global health and development efforts. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that unless systematically planned for and included in policies and programmes, people with disabilities remain at an increased risk of being adversely affected in times of humanitarian crisis and emergency disasters. Divided into eight sections: Disability and Health Frameworks Health Justice, Rights and Bioethics Gendering Disability Health Disability and Global Mental Health Disability and Access to Healthcare, Including Workforce Development Crises and Health Technology and Digital Health Disability, Ageing and Dementia Care This handbook covers the full range of topics pertaining to disability and global health including inclusive health; access to rehabilitation; global mental health and disability; medical training and disability; community based inclusive development for improving health and rehabilitation; maternal health and sexual reproduction; preventive care and health promotion for people with disabilities; health, disability and indigenous knowledges; bioethics and human rights; data protection; and health in the global south. It will be of interest to all scholars, students and professionals working in the fields of disability studies, health studies, nursing, medicine, allied health, development studies and sociology.

International Practice Theory is the definitive introduction to the practice turn in world politics, providing an accessible, up-to-date guide to the approaches, concepts, methodologies and methods of the subject. Situating the study of practices in contemporary theory and reviewing approaches ranging from Bourdieu’s praxeology and communities of practice to actor-network theory and pragmatic sociology, it documents how they can be used to study international practices empirically. The book features a discussion of how scholars can navigate ontological challenges such as order and change, micro and macro, bodies and objects, and power and critique. Interpreting practice theory as a methodological orientation, it also provides an essential guide for the design, execution and drafting of a praxiographic study.

This book compiles the fieldwork experiences of 55 researchers, addressing the challenges, ethical considerations, and methodologies employed to study 30 diverse populations and phenomena within Criminology and Security Studies. This volume contributes to filling a gap in academic literature by highlighting the often unspoken realities and intricacies of fieldwork. The book is systematically structured into five thematic sections: The Powerful, The Invisible, The Vulnerable, The Violent, and The Cyber. These categories encompass various aspects and dimensions of fieldwork, including managing emotional distress, negotiating access through gatekeepers, ensuring the protection of informants, and exercising discretion in navigating sensitive issues. As a scholarly resource, this book is invaluable for academics, practitioners, and students involved in criminology, security studies, anthropology, sociology, and political science. By offering in-depth reflections and insights, this volume enhances the reader’s understanding of the nuances of fieldwork, and informs the development of robust and ethical research practices. Chapters 2, 9 and 11 are available open access under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License via link.springer.com.

This book explains how field research contributes value to political science by exploring scholars' experiences, detailing exemplary practices, and asserting key principles.