Decolonizing Research Methodologies
The project is entitled, DECOLONIZING RESEARCH METHODOLOGIES: A Research School Programme on empirical data collection, fieldwork relations, ethical challenges, and transnational approaches, is funded by the Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet) 2022-2025. It aims to support the creation, organization, and the implementation of an interdisciplinary research school that bring together Burkinabe, Malian, Swedish, and Tanzanian researchers and research projects in a common collaborative framework to strengthen conceptual, theoretical, methodological and practical work for decolonizing research methodologies.
It focuses mainly on qualitative research and societal engagement in the humanities and social sciences, and is geared towards data collection, research relations, ethics, and transnational approaches in the organization and implementation of research and research training.
More specifically, the project aims:
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to critically assess and transform the ways in which qualitative research is organized and implemented;
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to strenghten the development of empirically grounded and critical research methodologies;
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to interrogate fieldwork relations and research ethics; and
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to promote transnational approaches.
The project is built around qualitative empirical research, and societal engagement through the development of courses (both in situ/in persona, and online), the organization of summer schools in the collaborating countries, regular online seminar series, joint analytical workshops, and collaborative publications. It seeks to foster a critical, and yet practically oriented and relevant, academic culture among PhD students and faculty.
The partners involved in the project are (see also the list of University/Country Coordinators):
Activities
The Launching Seminar was hosted at Uppsala University 26 Sept-12 Oct. 2022 with round-tables, seminars, individual presentations, and joint fieldwork. The Seminar programme is available here. For more info, contact the coordinator of your University or Programme Coordinator Dr. Oulia Makkonen.
Ongoing activities (the planned or most recent first) include:
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Between 26 Feb-1 March 2024, a Coordinators' Meeting was hosted at Université Nazi BONI, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso to present papers for the panel at the MANSA Conference, and to prepare the upcoming Fieldwork Seminar in Bobo-Dioulasso in early 2025.
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On 5 December 2023, the Institut des Sciences Humaines hosted the Virtual Seminar on Decolonizing Research Methodologies with Gaoussou Dembélé et Philibert Sylla.
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Between 23 October and 4 November 2023, the Fieldwork Seminar on Decolonizing Research Methodologies with 30 participants was organized in Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo, Tanzania.
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On 19 September 2023, a joint NARN Seminar on how to decolonize in practice with Prof. Sten Hagberg, Dr. Oulia Makkonen, and Dr. Thomas Ndaluka is hosted.
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On 15 September 2023, a Virtual seminar in Decolonizing Research Methodologies with Prof. Paula Uimonen and PhD Student Hussein Masimbi was organized by Stockholm University.
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On 13 June 2023, a Virtual seminar in Decolonizing Research Methodologies with Dr. Vincent-Paul Sanon was organized by the Nazi BONI University.
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In March 2023, an exploratory mission composed of Sten Hagberg, Oulia Makkonen, and Patrice Toé traveled to Tanzania, to plan for the upcoming Fieldwork Seminar 23 October-4 November 2023 with the Tanzanian partners under the leadership of Thomas Ndaluka.
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On 24 March 2023, a Virtual seminar in Decolonizing Research Methodologies with Prof. Friederike Lüpke was planned (but postponed) .
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Between 5 and 7 December 2022, Sten Hagberg and Oilia Makkonen attended and presented papers focusing on the decolonization at the 14th SANORD Conference at the University of Limpopo, South Africa.
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On 10 Oct 2022, an Open Seminar on Citizen Perspectives on Security and Safety Challenges on Gotland
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On 28 Sept 2022, a public lecture at Uppsala University on third genders in the Global South
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On 27 Sept 2022, a round-table at Uppsala University on Rethinking Epistemologies and Research Practices
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Between 26 Sept-11 Oct 2022, the Launching Seminar on Decolonizing Research Methodologies at Uppsala University
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On 30 June 2022, Sten Hagberg gave a talk on Décoloniser les méthodologies de recherche au Laboratoire d'études rurales sur l'environnement et le développement économique et social, Nazi Boni University, Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso.
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On 16 June 2022, Sten Hagberg and Oulia Makkonen gave a hybrid research seminar presenting the programme at Forum for Africa Studies, Uppsala University, Sweden.
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On 11 May 2022, Sten Hagberg gave a seminar presenting the programme at Dept. of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden.