Politics, Ethics and Migration Research

Migration research increasingly involves working in complex, sometimes insecure, and often emotionally challenging situations. While most researchers are trained in issues pertaining to ethics and responsibility, less preparation goes into physical and emotional safety during fieldwork and dealing with the retrospective processing of often harsh, real-life experiences during analysis and writing up. This chapter discusses the methodological challenges of carrying out migration research in times of stricter migration policy and practice. It focuses on the institutional structures and cultures surrounding our research, the implications of physical and emotional risks to safety in the field, and the unequal relationship between people being studied, local gatekeepers, and variously positioned researchers. It engages with what can be done prior to, during and after going to the field to maintain safety and emotional engagement, to do no harm, and to avoid the occupational hazards of burnout, compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress among all those involved.