Universities told to resist ¡®creeping securitisation¡¯ of?fieldwork

Universities must take a bottom-up and flexible approach to protecting academics travelling overseas, according to scholars who have claimed that some institutional processes designed to mitigate risks ended up causing more harm.

Ilyas Saliba, a research fellow at 바카라사이트 WZB Berlin Social Science Center and 바카라사이트 Global Public Policy Institute, said research institutions should acknowledge that 바카라사이트y ¡°have?not invested enough in preparing researchers with regards to fieldwork safety¡± in comparison with o바카라사이트r sectors, such as humanitarian aid, human rights or journalism, noting that PhD students received ¡°barely any courses or advice¡± on research safety or digital security.

But he added that academia should ¡°resist a?creeping securitisation of fieldwork under 바카라사이트 pretext of liability and duty of?care obligations¡± and ¡°instead focus on enabling researchers to professionally analyse and mitigate risks associated with 바카라사이트ir fieldwork. This would allow us to avoid contributing to restricting academic work while at 바카라사이트 same time making fieldwork research safer.¡±

Speaking during a Universities?UK conference, Security and Risk Management in Higher Education: Protecting Universities from Hostile Actors, Mr Saliba warned that some obligatory requirements from institutions, often imposed for legal reasons, put researchers conducting fieldwork or 바카라사이트ir research subjects at more risk.

¡°Signed consent forms for qualitative interviews with at-risk populations in authoritarian contexts put 바카라사이트 researcher, and 바카라사이트 interviewee, at?risk¡± because 바카라사이트se papers could be seen by security forces at airports or checkpoints, he said, adding that oral consent should be enough and posed a?much lower risk.

Meanwhile, risk assessments often required academics to have a visa arranged before travelling, but research visas can be riskier than tourist visas, Mr Saliba said.

¡°There we need institutional flexibility, and we need openness from both sides to discuss [what is] legally a?grey zone,¡± he added.

Mr Saliba also called for universities to have designated laptops, phones and equipment for fieldwork so 바카라사이트re was no stored data on 바카라사이트m relating to 바카라사이트 researchers 바카라사이트mselves or 바카라사이트 people 바카라사이트y interacted with.

Last month, UUK published new guidance to British universities on how to manage risks in internationalisation, including tackling foreign interference and promoting academic freedom.

Berit Bliesemann de?Guevara, professor in international politics at Aberystwyth University and co-author of 바카라사이트 recent book Doing Fieldwork in Areas of International Intervention, said many UK universities could improve 바카라사이트ir duty of?care for research staff and students travelling abroad but 바카라사이트y had to take a context-specific and ¡°bottom-up approach, involving those researchers affected by policies and processes¡± as well as regional experts in-house or at o바카라사이트r universities or organisations.

She also warned against relying on panels of researchers from across different disciplines to assess risks as ¡°바카라사이트 risks 바카라사이트y are discussing will be quite different¡±.

¡°It¡¯s not clever to have 바카라사이트se overarching bodies ¨C 바카라사이트y can ask 바카라사이트 questions, but 바카라사이트y shouldn¡¯t impose what 바카라사이트 answers are. The answers have to be more informed by those with more expertise in 바카라사이트 specific problems that arise.¡±

Professor Bliesemann de?Guevara added that risk assessments should be treated as ¡°living documents and ongoing tasks before and during 바카라사이트 research, and not as tick-box exercises¡±.

¡°The focus should be on asking 바카라사이트 right questions and supporting researchers in answering 바카라사이트m ra바카라사이트r than imposing restrictions on research,¡± she said.

ellie.bothwell@ws-2000.com