The Power Dynamics of Conducting Research for the International Development

Countless organisations in the international development sector assert the application of “evidence-based approaches” to justify programs, funding, policy development and other activities intending to improve/solve/de-escalate/innovate the Global South. The data on which these organisations rely are frequently generated under power dynamics that are palpable, yet rarely acknowledged within the findings. Those of us who develop and implement studies may deploy enumerators and research assistants from the countries of focus, collect data with translators, or even maintain sole responsibility for all aspects of the research. However, do we recognise how the differences in positionality between us and those who we study may impact our findings? As said by Ivan Illich at the 1968 Conference on InterAmerican Student Projects in Cuernavaca, Mexico, “if you insist on working with the poor, if this is your vocation, then at least work among the poor who can tell you to go to hell.”

By even asking respondents about their experiences of poverty, how might we inadvertently or even duplicitously set up expectations for them to anticipate support? Do we justify the intended outcomes of data collection because people must put aside income-generating or subsistence activities to answer our questions—is this even consider when developing our protocols? How might the power dynamics of our positionality affect local enumerators and does this have a knock-on effect on the respondents with whom they engage?

Students, researchers, and practitioners who produce or use data used by international development organisations are welcome to join this interactive workshop. We will explore how the power dynamics of conducting research in the Global South ground the narratives about the so-called beneficiaries of international development organisations. We will also unpack the ways that ignoring, acknowledging, or mitigating these dynamics may affect how these narratives are subsequently interpreted by decision-makers in the international development sector.

This workshop is delivered by Desiree Acholla, an incoming PhD candidate in History with the South, West, & Wales consortium of the National Museum Wales and nine universities, including the University of Exeter. Based at the University of Southampton, her research will explore the ongoing decolonial efforts by ODI, an international development think tank, in context of its education activities in post-colonial East Africa. She is currently a social impact consultant with her independent practice, Inararibonye Advisors. Her consulting work focuses on anti-racism and decoloniality for the international development sector.