Paper Short Abstract:

Knowledge of civil wars and their aftermaths is co-produced through negotiations between researcher, research broker and local communities. With a focus on the researcher/broker/community nexus, this paper locates continuities of colonial hierarchies in post-colonial research practices.

Paper Abstract:

Knowledge of civil wars and their aftermaths is co-produced through continuous negotiations between researcher, research broker and local communities. With a focus on the researcher/broker/community nexus, this paper locates the troubling continuities of colonial hierarchies in post-colonial research practices, but at the same time see potential for a creative space of co-production, or potentially a structural hole, to speak with Burt (2004). In this paper, we in particular make use of elements of time and space as prisms to understand the continuity and change of global, in particular northern, research practices in war and post-war settings. The paper draws on a dialogue between James, a southern research assistant/broker and Mats, a northern researcher. Together we have about 60 years research experience from West African warzones, in particular Sierra Leone. In addition, this paper draws on interview material and workshop discussions with 14 Sierra Leonean research brokers active during and in the aftermath of the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002).