Methodology matters in Iran researching social movements in authoritarian contexts
Rivetti, PaolaORCID: 0000-0002-1794-0504
(2017)
Methodology matters in Iran researching social movements in authoritarian contexts.
Anthropology of the Middle East, 12
(1).
pp. 71-87.
ISSN 1746-0719
How can scholars conduct fieldwork in an authoritarian environment,
engaging ‘dangerous’ topics such as social movements in Iran? How can they
overcome the limitations imposed by the authoritarian state and win the trust of
activists? This article reflects on the knowledge that scholars produce under such
difficult circumstances, arguing that the deployment of non-mainstream research
practices and methods can benefit the scholarship, exposing under-studied and
overlooked aspects of the topic investigated. More specifically, the article elaborates
on how methodological choices inform the knowledge we produce and how they
can therefore be used to overcome structural limitations generating innovative and
fairer scholarship.
Metadata
Item Type:
Article (Published)
Refereed:
Yes
Uncontrolled Keywords:
Fieldwork; Iran; activism, co-research; methodology; social movements