The Microphysics of Participation in Refugee Research

Abstract

This paper examines the involvement of refugees in the production and reproduction of knowledge of which they are ultimately meant to be beneficiaries. By using examples from research with Central American refugees and Rwandan displaced children, it considers forced migrants' roles as participants in research, their position in 'participatory' research, and the representation of refugees' voices in refugee-centred research. Power is intimately connected to the diverse ways in which participation unfolds, and the last part of the paper examines refugees' participation in research in terms of 'power that circulates' (Foucault) to show that they are not more or less powerful but vehicles for the circulation of power, simultaneously undergoing and exercising it.

Promoting male refugees’ mental health after they have been granted leave to remain (refugee status)

“…Listening to 'the refugee's voice' means in fact developing 'a refugee centred perspective' where the diverse narratives told by participants are organised to tell their direct collective story (Dona, 2007).…”

Seeking Safety beyond Refuge: The Impact of Immigration and Citizenship Policy upon Refugees in the UK

“…Although in-depth interviewing cannot document universal trends, it can unearth rich accounts about the impacts of restrictive policy on a personal level and provide insights into the process of decisionmaking regarding citizenship. This qualitative project involved collaboration between a third sector organisation and an academic partner (Dona 2007). Challenges related to accessing refugees were addressed by relying upon several gatekeepers in the third sector organisation, as well as snowball sampling (Temple and Moran 2006).…”

Conducting post-disaster research with refugee background peer researchers and their communities

“…Birman (2006) discussed the ethical and methodological importance of 'cultural insiders' to be involved in cross-cultural research. Such persons possess both the linguistic and cultural expertise to allow them to access the specific cultural communities, which would be difficult for even 'sensitive and knowledgeable outsiders' (Birman, 2006: 172;Dona, 2007;Ryan et al, 2010). Court and Abbas' (2013) case study of the collaborative process between two researchers from different ethnic backgrounds when interviewing a family from an ethnic and religious minority provides an example of how a cultural insider researcher may add layers of understanding.…”