Embodied fear, embodied knowledge : vulnerability, crip epistemologies and the PTSD-affected researcher
(2026) In Critical Studies on Terrorism 19(3). p.787-810- Abstract
This article explores the epistemological and ontological dimensions of vulnerability in research practice from the perspective of a researcher with a clinical diagnosis of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder. It retraces the author’s journey conducting interviews with jihadist group members in France, based on a four-year research ethnographic project exploring the intimacies of jihadist group members through interviews and online observations. The article places vulnerability at the centre of this inquiry, both in terms of the researcher’s own embodied vulnerability and that of the research participants. It goes on to explore what “vulnerability” might be and serve throughout the research process, interrogating feelings and perceptions of... (More)
This article explores the epistemological and ontological dimensions of vulnerability in research practice from the perspective of a researcher with a clinical diagnosis of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder. It retraces the author’s journey conducting interviews with jihadist group members in France, based on a four-year research ethnographic project exploring the intimacies of jihadist group members through interviews and online observations. The article places vulnerability at the centre of this inquiry, both in terms of the researcher’s own embodied vulnerability and that of the research participants. It goes on to explore what “vulnerability” might be and serve throughout the research process, interrogating feelings and perceptions of threat and fear as distributed asymmetrically between parties. It argues that the courtship-like aspect of researcher-participant encounter in fieldwork should be thought of as being between two (unevenly) “vulnerable” individuals whose inherent injurability ought to be recognised and transparently reflected on. The article interrogates how the researcher’s acknowledgement of both their vulnerability and power and one of the participants has epistemological consequences for the research practice. Throughout the article, the author uses crip theory as a lens through which scholars of violence can rethink their own research practice, and proposes a framework for understanding emotions such as fear in their manyfold dimensions.
(Less)
- author
- Tollu, Aube LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2026
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- crip theory, ethnography, PTSD, terrorism, vulnerability
- in
- Critical Studies on Terrorism
- volume
- 19
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 24 pages
- publisher
- Taylor & Francis
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105039760804
- ISSN
- 1753-9153
- DOI
- 10.1080/17539153.2026.2645389
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- bbd1dd74-e9bb-4863-a127-41563d2d3599
- date added to LUP
- 2026-09-14 15:09:12
- date last changed
- 2026-09-14 15:09:31
@article{bbd1dd74-e9bb-4863-a127-41563d2d3599,
abstract = {{<p>This article explores the epistemological and ontological dimensions of vulnerability in research practice from the perspective of a researcher with a clinical diagnosis of Post-Traumatic-Stress-Disorder. It retraces the author’s journey conducting interviews with jihadist group members in France, based on a four-year research ethnographic project exploring the intimacies of jihadist group members through interviews and online observations. The article places vulnerability at the centre of this inquiry, both in terms of the researcher’s own embodied vulnerability and that of the research participants. It goes on to explore what “vulnerability” might be and serve throughout the research process, interrogating feelings and perceptions of threat and fear as distributed asymmetrically between parties. It argues that the courtship-like aspect of researcher-participant encounter in fieldwork should be thought of as being between two (unevenly) “vulnerable” individuals whose inherent injurability ought to be recognised and transparently reflected on. The article interrogates how the researcher’s acknowledgement of both their vulnerability and power and one of the participants has epistemological consequences for the research practice. Throughout the article, the author uses crip theory as a lens through which scholars of violence can rethink their own research practice, and proposes a framework for understanding emotions such as fear in their manyfold dimensions.</p>}},
author = {{Tollu, Aube}},
issn = {{1753-9153}},
keywords = {{crip theory; ethnography; PTSD; terrorism; vulnerability}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{787--810}},
publisher = {{Taylor & Francis}},
series = {{Critical Studies on Terrorism}},
title = {{Embodied fear, embodied knowledge : vulnerability, crip epistemologies and the PTSD-affected researcher}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17539153.2026.2645389}},
doi = {{10.1080/17539153.2026.2645389}},
volume = {{19}},
year = {{2026}},
}