The Road to Darfur: Ethical and Practical Challenges of Embedded Research in Areas of Open Conflict

Abstract

This chapter concentrates on Mateja Peter's experiences of doing embedded research in Darfur, Sudan. It analyzes the distances between researcher and research participants that are created through physical access restrictions to the field, which may arise from the dangers of an active conflict. It also illustrates how practical considerations of accessing sites of conflict are entangled with ethical considerations for scholarly work and for interventions. The chapter highlights how a combination of practical and ethical constraints impacts what can be said about places that are studied. It also provides a narrative of Peter's fieldwork in Darfur, laying out the context and practical considerations, as well as the ethical challenges of the research.