2 results
9 - Narrating Women’s Life Histories: Voice, Audience, Ethics
- Edited by Ashley Barnwell, University of Melbourne, Signe Ravn, University of Melbourne
-
- Book:
- Narrative Research Now
- Published by:
- Bristol University Press
- Published online:
- 28 March 2024
- Print publication:
- 01 December 2023, pp 139-157
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Introduction
In both scholarly and applied research on marginalised groups, there is a prominent focus on capturing and communicating life histories to illustrate the affective and other dimensions of people’s lived experiences and how agency is exercised and constrained. This is as much the case in anthropology, history and sociology as it is in critical gender and development studies concerned with identifying barriers around, and strategies women use for, improving their wellbeing and reducing gender inequity (Miller and Bell, 2012; Ellis, 2016). However, constructing and communicating such narrative forms carries an inherent tension for the feminist researcher when making ethical choices on minimising potential harms and sometimes unknown risks for research participants, honouring their desires on how their information is used, and adhering to open access principles. Open access research is not only important for participants in feminist research in owning and accessing the knowledge they have contributed to, but it is also frequently demanded by funding agencies and research institutions (Miller, 2012; Miller and Bell, 2012; Jones and De Breo, 2017).
How best to make ethical choices when conducting research and publishing analysis in the life history narrative form is not always easily foreshadowed, nor a process constrained to following the steps surmised in institutional ethics applications. Researchers need to respond to the ‘ethically important moments’ they encounter in practice, and not all risks may be known (Guillemin and Gillam, 2004; Mauthner, 2012). This is often the case when working with highly personalised information of interlocuters from vulnerable groups (Liamputtong, 2007). Choices are also increasingly complex in a digital age in which open access principles are lauded, and published analysis is available in multiple, more accessible forms rather than being behind paywalls (Mauthner, 2012; Miller, 2012). Despite this complex ethical landscape, as feminist researchers so frequently highlight, it is unethical to abandon attempts to conduct research with vulnerable groups to avoid the possible risks, as it inevitably silences the voices and experiences that are often the very subject of concern in tackling perennial issues such as gender inequity (Liamputtong, 2007; Ojermark, 2007).
To explore the tensions for feminist researchers in making ethical choices when constructing and sharing women’s life histories, this chapter draws from the experience of conducting research between 2019 and 2020 into how women from marginal groups in rural Indonesia might influence structures of power and development decision-making.
4 - Historical contexts of Muslim-Christian encounters in northern Nigeria
- from Part One - The Muslim & Christian Context
-
- By Abdul Raufu Mustapha, University of Oxford, and the Kirk-Greene Fellow at St Antony's College., David Ehrhardt, Assistant Professor in International Development at Leiden University College, Rachael Diprose, Lecturer in Development Studies in the School of Social and Political Sciences (SSPS) at University of Melbourne.
- Edited by Abdul Raufu Mustapha, David Ehrhardt
-
- Book:
- Creed and Grievance
- Published by:
- Boydell & Brewer
- Published online:
- 25 March 2020
- Print publication:
- 19 January 2018, pp 108-136
-
- Chapter
- Export citation
-
Summary
Introduction
In a context of post-civil war constitutional reform and a rapidly expanding oil economy, Nigeria's Second Republic (1979–1983) began as an era full of promise and ambition. Looking back on the last three decades of Nigerian history, some of these ambitions have been realized, most notably in the continuing integrity of the Nigerian federation and its 1999 return to democratic politics. But success has been decidedly uneven: not only is Nigeria still challenged by rampant poverty and corruption, but it has also become notorious for incessant occurrences of localized yet often highly violent conflict. Interfaith relations have been a factor of crucial influence throughout this recent historical period, shaping Nigeria's successes as well as its challenges. In this chapter we seek to outline the most important aspects of the historical and contemporary context in which Muslim-Christian relations in northern Nigeria are taking place.
Nigerians are arguably among the most extrovertly religious people on the planet: religious identities are highly salient, religious groups and institutions are well-organized and fulfil important social and political functions, and religion has an important place in the structures and processes of Nigerian politics. This prominence of religion applies equally to affiliates of Islam, Christianity and African ‘traditional’ religions – although the last group has shrunk tremendously over the past century, due to conversions to the two dominants faiths and their multiple denominations. While relations between affiliates of different religions or denominations are often cordial, there is also an aspect of competition and conflict to Nigeria's interfaith relations. This aspect is, for example, visible in the Boko Haram insurgency and other forms of collective violence, as well as in the political struggles around Sharia. Due to the challenging and destructive nature of the competitive aspect of interfaith relations, particularly around access to resources and representation within the state, many of the chapters in this book discuss violence as part of the repertoire of interfaith interactions. In keeping with this focus, much of this chapter will revolve around Muslim-Christian contention, as it tries to disentangle the roots and historical trajectories of interfaith encounters in northern Nigeria.