Interpretation by Proxy? Interpretive Fieldwork with Local Associates in Areas of Restricted Research Access

This chapter focuses on Katarina Kušić's research on conflict-affected communities in Myanmar. It analyzes travel restrictions for foreigners that are put in place by the host country of the research. It also emphasizes how the help of local associates overcome the physical distance created by a controlling state and provide advantages in terms of cultural closeness between researchers and researched. The chapter discusses the collaborative interpretivist research on conflict as it unfolded in the project “Raising Silent Voices: Harnessing Local Conflict Knowledge for Communities' Protection from Violence in Myanmar,” which addresses the growing difficulties of access in conflict and post-conflict areas. It also looks into the involvement of a Myanmar team in the project that tackles a particular paradox in the “local turn” of intervention scholarship.