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Researcher and Practitioner Agency

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Local Researchers and International Practitioners

Part of the book series: Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies ((RCS))

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Abstract

This chapter sharpens the analytical tools of hybridity and the everyday by conceptualising the contribution of researchers and international practitioners to policy-making. The theoretical concepts encourage a deep understanding of the challenges local research poses to international SSR and the positive benefits these challenges afford to international practitioners. It centres on the concepts of epistemic community and research contribution, which help to explain how, in an interactive policy-making process, researchers challenge and contribute to SSR. It highlights the capacity of researchers to produce new knowledge and push these ideas onto policy-maker agendas. Interaction strategies, and the forging of relationships with policy-makers, provide the critical means to penetrate the knowledge pool of policy-makers. The chapter also highlights the discretion of policy-makers, and posits that individual personalities, attitudes and values are critical factors in determining the extent to which practitioners engage with local researchers.

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Phillipps, J. (2022). Researcher and Practitioner Agency. In: Local Researchers and International Practitioners . Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-82661-1_3

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