Quick Immersions: Fieldwork in Authoritarian Conflict Zones

• In Event: "Bringing Fieldwork Back In-" To Political Science Research

Abstract

Why is fieldwork, even in short bursts, valuable to explaining politics in Middle Eastern (authoritarian) conflict zones? This question is based on 28 years of field research trips ranging from 1-9 months in length. Countries visited between 1990 and 2018 include Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco. This paper argues that fieldwork, even ‘quick immersions,’ makes a contribution to knowledge because the method yields immediate access to power relationships and resistance which are localized in the practice of everyday life.

To support this claim, this paper uses data collected during three recent “quick immersion” field work trips (1-2 months) to Jordan (2016), Lebanon (2017), and Saudi Arabia (2018). Insights from what Mead calls “informal and institutional suasions that are not so easily measured” (Mead, 2005) are compared. I argue that field work yields “hidden transcripts” (Scott, 1990), by enabling “fine-grained micro-level descriptions,” that are essential to theory building in authoritarian political contexts (Schwedler, 2015).

A month or two in the field—a quick immersion—transforms classic ethnographic research assumptions that the practice of fieldwork requires slow absorption, to bridge cultural gaps and build trust—all of which take time.

Instead, to “bring fieldwork back in” this paper explores three methodological questions: first, “How long in the field is required to lay claim credibly to explanation?” Second, “What conditions are required to facilitate effective participant observation, on quick research trips?” Third, and most importantly, “What is learned during fieldwork, that is not accessible without time on the ground? In the end, this paper explains aspects of both Middle East politics and methodological opportunities for enhanced realism and relevance in political science research.

Author

• Deborah L. Wheeler, U.S. Naval Academy