[RwandaLibre] Academics dissuade conducting research in Rwanda.

Admission not impossible
2 January 2014

My recent article on conducting field research in Rwanda ("The price
of admission", 28 November) generated two critical responses in these
pages – an article by Erin Jessee ("Subtle as foxes for prey",
Opinion, 19/26 December 2013) and a letter signed by 10 academics and
a journalist ("Truly hostile environment", Letters, 19/26 December).

On Twitter on 28 November, one of the authors of the letter, Boston
University scholar Timothy Longman, described my article as
"thoughtful" and defended it against the sort of denigration that is
now reflected in the missive he co-authored.

According to the letter, I argued that all "researchers who have
fallen out with the Rwandan Patriotic Front, the country's ruling
party, have exaggerated the intimidation and interference that they
have experienced" and set out "a false dichotomy between those who can
no longer conduct research in Rwanda and those who can". Both claims
misrepresent my argument. Acknowledging the "inevitable tensions,
divisions and trauma" associated with researching in the country, I
argued that some foreign academics exaggerate the difficulties they
face in the field (some do so to protect their own patch). Most
importantly, a large number of critical commentators on Rwanda
(including some well known to the letter's authors) continue to
research there, adopting a wide range of creative, time-honed
techniques. It is a pity that the letter writers chose to respond in
such a defensive and barbed manner rather than engaging with the
issues raised in "The price of admission".

Jessee's article is a more thoughtful contribution, highlighting the
Rwandan government's use of bureaucratic measures (particularly the
Rwanda National Ethics Committee) to hamstring research. However, her
own account of dealing with this system – which is common in many East
African countries, including Uganda, where the red tape is much more
extensive (and expensive) – highlights that, despite the challenges at
hand, it is possible to research in Rwanda.

Depressingly, Jessee also defends those senior scholars who try to
dissuade their students from conducting research in Rwanda. Since the
publication of my article, I have received numerous emails from
postgraduates lamenting this tendency among their elders. The more
productive approach is to counsel students about the challenges
involved while emboldening them to find ways around or through them –
as Jessee and countless others have done.

Phil Clark
Soas, University of London

http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/comment/letters/admission-not-impossible/2010100.article


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