NEXT UP: Dana El Kurd on positionality and the advantages (and disadvantages) of looking like, and talking in the same language as, one's human subjects.

#palestine #positionality #qualitativeresearch #improvisationalpluralism #archivalraiders

No one leaves home without a plan -- but the question is whether you can take advantage of the opportunties that present themselves. "Improvisational pluralism," by Dana El Kurd. #palestine #fieldworktips #interviewtechniques #archivalraiders

Dana El Kurd (University of Richmond) on fieldwork as a homecoming, improvising, making people laugh, and being able to laugh at yourself.

#ethnographymatters #palestine #researchdesign #qualitativeresearch #positionality #archivalraiders

"The war sucks you in."

How does one study war up close without acquiring dangerous habits of mind? How is the professional path of a military analyst different from a ‘pure’ academic path - and what do cloistered academics who never work in the government miss? Mike Kofman, unfiltered.

ROSE MCDERMOTT: "It never occurred to me until I was in college that not everyone knew how to do that."

#politicalscience #militaryfamilies #ravelife #archivalraiders

WOTR has lots of free content but shelling out a bit to subsidize the full Kofman experience is not a bad value proposition, honestly, if you're in this space. Think about the subscription as supporting the artist directly, buying the swag at the shows, etc.

UP NEXT! Kirsten Weld (Harvard) discusses the discover of Guatemala's secret police archives. What did the author of PAPER CADAVERS carry with her into the field? Tune in to find out.

archiveraiders.weebly.com

Mark Beissinger on the researcher as archivist.

Mark Beissinger on handling his KGB handler in the late Soviet period. #vodka #realexistingsocialism

After a long haitus, a new episode is finally up today. Mark Beissinger (Princeton) recalls fieldwork in the Soviet Union, the transition to a “post-Soviet” experience, and speculates about the future of fieldwork in Russia as U.S.-Russia relations return to something resembling a new Cold War.

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARCHIVE is a podcast featuring interviews with social scientists whose fieldwork inspires us. Visit the archive here (archiveraiders.weebly.com), or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Here's Margaret Levi and the tale of misfiled interview notes with Jimmy Hoffa.

Epic.