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When Humans Become Data

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The Companion to Peace and Conflict Fieldwork

Abstract

In this chapter, I examine what and whom we imagine to be protecting when we use the language of ethics and transparency to describe research. How does the imagination of humans as data inform different approaches to transparency and ethics in research? I draw from my experiences in negotiating about data transparency with a funding agency to reflect on how different temporalities and spaces of research and violence alike inform interpretations of our responsibilities toward research interlocutors. The goal of the chapter is to synthesize recent research to advance an alternate orientation of transparency, away from a conceptualization informed by liability or “checkbox” compliance and toward a practice of reflexive openness.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    All opinions in this article are my own and do not reflect the views of funding agencies or institutions that have supported my research.

  2. 2.

    ICPSR refers to the Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. QDR is a Qualitative Data Repository, hosted by the Center for Qualitative and Multi-Method Inquiry at the Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA. OSF refers to the Open Science Framework, maintained by the Center for Open Science.

  3. 3.

    LSS refers to the Law and Social Sciences Program in the Division of the Social and Economic Sciences of the NSF.

  4. 4.

    For a discussion of what makes certain research approaches feminist in the study of peace and conflict, see Wibben (2016), Sylvester (2013).

  5. 5.

    I acknowledge, of course, that financial support is not the only reason people apply for grants, particularly when grants themselves become part of assessment and prestige systems and hierarchies within academia.

  6. 6.

    I am grateful to Emma Shaw Crane for challenging me to think about this question through many different angles in my own research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK

    Roxani Krystalli

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  1. Roxani Krystalli
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Correspondence to Roxani Krystalli .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Government and International Affairs, Durham University, Durham, UK

    Roger Mac Ginty

  2. School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK

    Roddy Brett

  3. Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Birte Vogel

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Krystalli, R. (2021). When Humans Become Data. In: Mac Ginty, R., Brett, R., Vogel, B. (eds) The Companion to Peace and Conflict Fieldwork. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-46433-2_3

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