This workshop will be focused on theory and practice of social research in post-socialist space. The aim is to generate a discussion about the major challenges and difficulties of conducting social research and fieldwork in post-socialist, conflict and post-conflict environments.
Speakers will identify and explore: challenges of elite interviews; main challenges of qualitative research in intense political environments such as Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia; dangers and obstacles of conducting fieldwork in conflict and post-conflict zones; issues around gender, positionality and ethics in qualitative research of post-soviet identity and culture; how conditions of fear and distrust can affect fieldwork; issues related to the insider/outsider position of the researcher and working with people coming from different generations and ethnic backgrounds; the importance of local language knowledge in fieldwork.

Contributions from the audience about their experiences of fieldwork will be welcome.

 17 December 2014, 6:00pm – 8:00pm
ROOM 431 – UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies –  16 Taviton Street, WC1H0BW 

Chair:

–  Phillip Koeker (Research Associate in Societal and Political Responses to Corruption in Europe, UCL SSEES)

Speakers:

• Joanna Szostek (Mellon Research Fellow, UCL SSEES )
  Dealing with distrust: Some lessons from political fieldwork in Moscow, Minsk and Kyiv
• Dr Anna Pechurina  (Leeds Becket University)
  Conducting fieldwork in Russia: The issues of social positioning and recruitment when studying one’s own community
• Dr Bethan Harries (Member of the Centre on Dynamics of Ethnicity, School of Social Sciences, The University of Manchester)
  The gendered dimensions of election observation in and out of times of conflict: reflections on Ukraine
• Rob Stothard (Photographer based in Kiev)

The event will be followed by a wine reception. 
 

Please follow the link to register for the workshop:  

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/platform-ukraine-workshop3-studying-post-socialist-environments-research-methodology-and-fieldwork-tickets-14663110759