[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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