The Over-research & NGOisation Paradigm of the West Bank: Applied Cultural Analysis on the 'futility of research' and the 'burden of occupation'
(2020) TKAM02 20201Division of Ethnology
- Abstract (Spanish)
- El Paradigma de la Sobre-investigación y ONGización de Cisjordania: Análisis cultural aplicado de ‘el peso de la ocupación’ y ‘la inutilidad de la investigación’
Cisjordania atrae a innumerables investigadores debido la etiqueta intratable del conflicto. Por un lado, estos investigadores se sienten atraídos por el conflicto Palestino-israelí por razones logísticas: accesibilidad al área, prestigio académico, amplia financiación, subvenciones y oportunidades de ‘networking.’ Por otro lado, se sienten atraídos por la fascinación orientalista por realizar trabajo de campo en Cisjordania. Esto conduce a un exceso de investigadores que fomentan el fenómeno de sub y sobre-investigación entre las comunidades Beduinas Palestinas. Si bien... (More) - El Paradigma de la Sobre-investigación y ONGización de Cisjordania: Análisis cultural aplicado de ‘el peso de la ocupación’ y ‘la inutilidad de la investigación’
Cisjordania atrae a innumerables investigadores debido la etiqueta intratable del conflicto. Por un lado, estos investigadores se sienten atraídos por el conflicto Palestino-israelí por razones logísticas: accesibilidad al área, prestigio académico, amplia financiación, subvenciones y oportunidades de ‘networking.’ Por otro lado, se sienten atraídos por la fascinación orientalista por realizar trabajo de campo en Cisjordania. Esto conduce a un exceso de investigadores que fomentan el fenómeno de sub y sobre-investigación entre las comunidades Beduinas Palestinas. Si bien ciertas comunidades reciben demasiada atención, otras no reciben suficiente interés académico. A pesar un extenso estudio sobre la investigación excesiva existe una falta palpable de rigor teórico sobre las causas fundamentales de la sobre-investigación. Por tanto, esta tesis utiliza un análisis cultural aplicado como marco para abordar las principales causas de la sobre-investigación en Cisjordania: la ONGización de la sociedad civil Palestina. Dado que la investigación informa las políticas y la financiación informa la investigación, esto hace que cada investigación sea intrínsecamente política. Esto implica que la investigación pueda volverse abusiva y explotadora cuando la fomentan las partes interesadas del campo que actúan como intermediarios. Estos actores abordan el sector de las ONG, lo que fomenta la saturación de investigadores en una misma área, reclutando a los mismos participantes y realizando proyectos similares. Por lo tanto, el objetivo principal de esta tesis es avanzar en la discusión de la profesionalización de movimientos populares y el papel habilitador de los investigadores en comunidades sub / sobre-investigadas. Esta tesis aplica la autoetnografía y el "estudio" de la élite de las ONG Palestinas para discutir las desigualdades estructurales del sector. Finalmente, esta tesis pregunta: ¿se ha convertido la investigación en una banalidad, una continuidad colonial, un instrumento que fomenta el conflicto Palestino-israelí? El análisis cultural sobre la sobre-investigación y la ONGización ha derivado dos conceptos que abordan estas preguntas: el peso de la ocupación y la inutilidad de la investigación que impulsa etapas delante, narrativas fatigadas del conflicto y la negativa a participar en estudios. Estos análisis conceptuales se basan en la materialización de las actitudes de agotamiento que rodean la investigación en entrevistas con beduinos, intermediarios y trabajadores de campo Palestinos.
Palabras claves: sobre-investigación; ONGización; conflicto Palestino-israelí, estudio de la élite; ética de investigación; análisis cultural aplicado; Cisjordania; Beduinos; sociedad civil Palestina; perfomatividad. (Less) - Abstract
- The West Bank attracts countless researchers due to the conflict’s intractable label. On one hand, these researchers are drawn to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict due to logistical reasons: accessibility to the area, academic prestige, ample funding, grant and networking opportunities. On the other, researchers are allured due to an Orientalist fascination with conducting fieldwork in the West Bank. This leads to a surplus of researchers fostering the phenomenon of under/over-research among Palestinian Bedouin communities. While certain communities receive too much attention, others do not receive nearly enough scholarly interest. Despite extensive research on over-research, there is a palpable lack of theoretical rigour on the root causes... (More)
- The West Bank attracts countless researchers due to the conflict’s intractable label. On one hand, these researchers are drawn to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict due to logistical reasons: accessibility to the area, academic prestige, ample funding, grant and networking opportunities. On the other, researchers are allured due to an Orientalist fascination with conducting fieldwork in the West Bank. This leads to a surplus of researchers fostering the phenomenon of under/over-research among Palestinian Bedouin communities. While certain communities receive too much attention, others do not receive nearly enough scholarly interest. Despite extensive research on over-research, there is a palpable lack of theoretical rigour on the root causes of over-research. Therefore, this thesis utilises applied cultural analysis as a framework to address the principal causes of over- research in the West Bank: the NGOisation of Palestinian civil society. As research informs policy and funding inform research, this makes research inherently political. This entails that research can become abusive and exploitative when fostered by the field’s stakeholders acting as gatekeepers. These stakeholders surround the NGO sector which encourages the saturation of researchers in the same area recruiting the same participants and conducting similar projects. Thus, this thesis main aim is to advance the discussion of the professionalization of grassroots and the enabling role of researchers on the issue of under/over-researched communities. It utilizes auto-ethnography and ‘studying up’ of the Palestinian NGO elite to discuss the structural inequalities of the sector. Finally, this thesis asks: has research become a form of banality, a colonial continuity, an instrument fomenting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Cultural analysis on over-research and NGOisation derived two concepts that address these questions: the burden of occupation and the futility of research which propel scripted frontstages, fatigated narratives of conflict, and refusal to engage in research. These conceptual analyses are based on the materialization of the burnout attitudes surrounding research in interviews with Bedouins, gatekeepers, and Palestinian fieldworkers. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9032694
- author
- de Bárcena Myrsep, Alejandra Sonja LU
- supervisor
-
- Rachel Irwin LU
- organization
- course
- TKAM02 20201
- year
- 2020
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- over-research, NGOisation, Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Study Up, research ethics, applied cultural analysis, West Bank, Bedouins, autoethnography, Palestinian civil society, performativity.
- language
- English
- id
- 9032694
- date added to LUP
- 2020-12-11 16:28:27
- date last changed
- 2020-12-11 16:29:13
@misc{9032694,
abstract = {{The West Bank attracts countless researchers due to the conflict’s intractable label. On one hand, these researchers are drawn to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict due to logistical reasons: accessibility to the area, academic prestige, ample funding, grant and networking opportunities. On the other, researchers are allured due to an Orientalist fascination with conducting fieldwork in the West Bank. This leads to a surplus of researchers fostering the phenomenon of under/over-research among Palestinian Bedouin communities. While certain communities receive too much attention, others do not receive nearly enough scholarly interest. Despite extensive research on over-research, there is a palpable lack of theoretical rigour on the root causes of over-research. Therefore, this thesis utilises applied cultural analysis as a framework to address the principal causes of over- research in the West Bank: the NGOisation of Palestinian civil society. As research informs policy and funding inform research, this makes research inherently political. This entails that research can become abusive and exploitative when fostered by the field’s stakeholders acting as gatekeepers. These stakeholders surround the NGO sector which encourages the saturation of researchers in the same area recruiting the same participants and conducting similar projects. Thus, this thesis main aim is to advance the discussion of the professionalization of grassroots and the enabling role of researchers on the issue of under/over-researched communities. It utilizes auto-ethnography and ‘studying up’ of the Palestinian NGO elite to discuss the structural inequalities of the sector. Finally, this thesis asks: has research become a form of banality, a colonial continuity, an instrument fomenting the Palestinian-Israeli conflict? Cultural analysis on over-research and NGOisation derived two concepts that address these questions: the burden of occupation and the futility of research which propel scripted frontstages, fatigated narratives of conflict, and refusal to engage in research. These conceptual analyses are based on the materialization of the burnout attitudes surrounding research in interviews with Bedouins, gatekeepers, and Palestinian fieldworkers.}},
author = {{de Bárcena Myrsep, Alejandra Sonja}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Over-research & NGOisation Paradigm of the West Bank: Applied Cultural Analysis on the 'futility of research' and the 'burden of occupation'}},
year = {{2020}},
}