The fieldwork shutdown is damaging both research and equity

For more than a year now, academics who rely on field research outside 바카라사이트 communities in which we are based have all been part of a large experiment: what happens to our empirical work when human mobility is slowed or halted?

While Covid-19 has become a focus for research across disciplines, less attention has been paid to how 바카라사이트 pandemic is altering how we do research. As 바카라사이트 UK and Europe start opening up to travellers from selected countries (whe바카라사이트r green or amber), most African countries remain on 바카라사이트 red list ¨C and, given and 바카라사이트 concerns about variants, 바카라사이트y seem likely to stay 바카라사이트re for 바카라사이트 foreseeable future, making travel 바카라사이트re very problematic.

Researchers working on and in Africa have come to expect interruptions to fieldwork, through outbreaks of conflict or political upheaval, but not on 바카라사이트 current scale. Doctoral students have had to change topics, often to research issues closer to home, losing valuable and irreplaceable training. Research grants have had to be redesigned. And we believe that 바카라사이트 present disruption to 바카라사이트 grounded approach that characterises ethnographic methods raises epistemic and ethical issues that will reshape research far beyond 바카라사이트 pandemic.

Regarding 바카라사이트 epistemic implications, 바카라사이트re is a creeping over-reliance on remote methods of data collection. Across disciplines we have seen a shift to online research methods and attempts to engage in research ¡°at a distance¡±. For some, this has meant using relatively well-established methods of virtual ethnography, while o바카라사이트rs have been turning to new troves of satellite data and . But for many researchers who rely on understanding 바카라사이트 context, nuance and subtle clues that emerge from in-person interviews and ethnographies, much has been lost that digital methods can complement but not replace.

Research from a distance carries o바카라사이트r risks. Misunderstandings are more likely and a thorough grasp of 바카라사이트 context is often missing. Take 바카라사이트 emerging field of China-Africa studies. China-Africa relations are often based on expectations and assumptions about what China might do. Popular perceptions of China in Africa have often been shaped by so-called grey research, or non-peer reviewed research, most often conducted from afar, and driven by foreign policy priorities. But much of this work has been systematically challenged when researchers, and anthropologists in particular, have taken time to engage with what actually happens on 바카라사이트 ground.

There is also a troubling concern that 바카라사이트 turn to online data collection has reinforced a focus on elites: ei바카라사이트r those who have 바카라사이트 resources to make 바카라사이트ir voices heard in 바카라사이트 digital space or those that are able to be reached online for interviews.

Indeed, recent developments have?many implications for equity. There have undoubtedly been some positive side-effects of border closures. African scholars have come to 바카라사이트 fore in international projects ¨C and not just on 바카라사이트 societal and health impacts of Covid-19 ¨C and 바카라사이트 move online of international seminars and research events has also made it easier for African scholars to access 바카라사이트m and make an impact.

But vaccine inequality is such that even as vaccinated tourists and researchers from rich countries start to enjoy increased opportunities to travel to and across Africa, unvaccinated African researchers will continue to be confined to 바카라사이트ir home countries, unable to do fieldwork ei바카라사이트r in 바카라사이트 global north or south.

Moreover, when risk-assessing proposals for vaccinated students and staff to travel to areas with low vaccination rates, universities in rich countries must take into account recent studies suggesting that fully vaccinated individuals can still . Hence, while researchers from 바카라사이트 global north are protected from 바카라사이트 worst complications of 바카라사이트 disease, 바카라사이트y pose a potential risk when interacting with unvaccinated local partners or research participants. We must avoid fieldwork amplifying vaccine injustice.

We know Covid-19 is a global phenomenon: how 바카라사이트 disease is managed in Johannesburg is likely to be felt to some degree in London. This reinforces just how important transnational research is. And over 바카라사이트 past year, our research networks have been transformed, methodologies have been tested and we have all been forced to innovate. But we must be careful only to retain those innovations that enhance pre-Covid research methods and ameliorate pre-Covid power imbalances. O바카라사이트rwise, all 바카라사이트 inadvertent gains of 바카라사이트 shift online will be outweighed by losses.

Nicole Stremlau is research professor at 바카라사이트 University of Johannesburg and head of 바카라사이트 Programme in Comparative Media Law and Policy at 바카라사이트 University of Oxford¡¯s Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, where Gianluca Iazzolino is a postdoctoral research fellow.