This open access book offers a synthetic reflection on the authors’ fieldwork experiences in seven countries within the framework of ‘Authoritarianism in a Global Age’, a major comparative research project. It responds to the demand for increased attention to methodological rigor and transparency in qualitative research, and seeks to advance and practically support field research in authoritarian contexts. Without reducing the conundrums of authoritarian field research to a simple how-to guide, the book systematically reflects and reports on the authors’ combined experiences in (i) getting access to the field, (ii) assessing risk, (iii) navigating ‘red lines’, (iv) building relations with local collaborators and respondents, (v) handling the psychological pressures on field researchers, and (vi) balancing transparency and prudence in publishing research. It offers unique insights into this particularly challenging area of field research, makes explicit how the authors handled methodological challenges and ethical dilemmas, and offers recommendations where appropriate.
Marlies Glasius is Professor in International Relations at the Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and principal investigator of the ERC-funded project
Authoritarianism in a Global Age. Her research interests include authoritarianism, international criminal justice, human security and global civil society.
Meta de Lange is a junior researcher at the University of Amsterdam. She gained fieldwork experience in Surinam (2005), interviewing youth in detention, and in Cameroon (2006) by conducting interviews on the impact of HIV/Aids in a rural area.
Emanuela Dalmasso is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam. Her main areas of expertise and interest are Middle East Politics and Gender Studies with a specific focus on Morocco.
Adele Del Sordi is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam, where she investigates the impact of globalization on authoritarian sustainability in post-Soviet Kazakhstan. Her research interests include: stability of authoritarian regimes, post-Soviet politics and authoritarian learning.
Aofei Lv is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam. She has conducted fieldwork in China since 2010, including interviews with officials of different departments within central government, senior journalists of state media and commercial media, scholars of governmental research institutions and top universities, senior managers of enterprises, and representatives of international organizations in China.
Marcus Michaelsen is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam. His research interests include media and political change, digital media activism, and the politics of internet governance, with a particular focus on Iran and the Middle East.
Jos Bartman is a PhD candidate at the Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam. He gained fieldwork experience during his research masters, during which he conducted four months of fieldwork in rural West-Bengal. For his current research he has conducted fieldwork in Veracruz (Mexico) and Gujarat (India), where he has interviewed targets and executors of political repression.
Kris Ruijgrok is a PhD candidate at the Department of Politics, University of Amsterdam. His research uses a mixed-methods approach to study the role of Internet in street protesting in authoritarian regimes. He has recently conducted fieldwork in Malaysia.
