Researching violence and illicit economies: methods, ethics and security

This workshop brought together brought together researchers from Drugs and (dis)order,  the recently completed ESRC/Newton Fund research project Co-Constructing Security Agendas from Communities to the State in Mexico, and other experienced academics to share knowledge and experiences.

The workshop discussed the real risks involved in conducting fieldwork related to violence and illicit economies, as well as the tensions and trade-offs between risk taking and rigorous research.

Some of the questions covered by the workshop include: what are the ethical demands and realities behind the commitments we set out in our research proposals? How do we ensure the safety of everyone involved in implementation? How do we decide what’s good enough? Are there technological solutions, such as the ’emergency app’ used in the ESRC/Newton Fund project? And how does all this affect our research methodologies?