Methodology

This multi-pronged and multi-layered research project will be conducted by a multi-disciplinary, multi-lingual team of researchers who will visit the identified sites (see below) together at the inception of the project and then undertake a division of labour where the researchers more experienced in anthropological research methods of ‘participant observation’ will conduct intensive, long-term field work while the other researchers will concentrate on conducting more macro-level analyses of broader global and national trajectories of aid and governance that impinge on the identified communities. It will be essential however for the entire country research team to remain in constant contact with each other, update each other on their ongoing research findings and constantly re-evaluate their research questions and methodology based on such discussions. Once the project becomes more established it is also hoped that the two country research teams will be able to begin an exchange of views, comments and suggestions via the internet.

The micro aspect of this research study will focus on producing a fine-grained and in-depth analysis of the manner in which configurations of actors influence and re-shape not only material practices but also psychological and emotional states through direct and indirect methods of intervention at the grassroots level. In this regard, particular attention will be paid to which humanitarian interventions have generated the most amount of intra or inter community dissension as well as amity. For this aspect of the research, anthropological tools such as ‘participant observation’ will be mobilized with researchers living with and participating in the everyday activities of the communities they are studying, for extended periods of time. The information gleaned from such observations will also be supplemented by more formal interviews with specific individuals, community leaders, camp committees etc as well as group discussions with women and drawing workshops and play groups with children.

Macro-level Research

The macro aspect of this research primarily takes its cues from the broader global and national trajectories of aid and governance/militarism that impinge at the grassroots level. The accessing of such meta-articulations as well as their historicization will thus be dependent on the study of archived scholarly and policy documents and a secondary literature which analyses the workings of such global forces and national(ist) regimes. This will also be supplemented by formal interviews with key international, national and local institutions and actors based on a prepared questionnaire and the perusal of current textual materials issued by these institutions.