Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality - Chapter 37 - Power dynamics in the use of qualitative methods in humanitarianism

Every two weeks I am going to feature one of the chapters of our Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality which was published in spring 2024.
This week we are taking a closer look at Chapter 37 - Power dynamics in the use of qualitative methods in humanitarianism - contributed by Margaux Pinaud, Kristina Tschunkert and Augusta Nannerini.

From the introduction 
The aim of this chapter is to discuss some of the key power dynamics arising in qualitative research by humanitarian scholars and organisations. Specifically, we aim to show how using qualitative methods in a particular way and for a particular purpose may perpetuate the inequalities that humanitarianism seeks to address. Acknowledging and engaging with these dynamics, we suggest, does not limit the quality of the research or of the data, but is essential to generate ethical, inclusive, and nuanced knowledge. Our background on this topic is primarily academic, since we are young, female, European scholars employed by European universities. That said, all of us conducted research at some point with (or for) humanitarian organisations, which allows us to contrast academic and practitioner approaches. Our background also informs our understanding of humanitarianism as inherently political. 
First, we view the aspiration to prevent human suffering as extending to a range of actions beyond the provision of short-term aid, including peacebuilding and development (Barnett and Weiss, 2011: 3). 
Second, we speak from the perspective of an international humanitarian system, which finds its origins in the response to war and natural disaster in the West (especially Europe) and now revolves around the competing authorities of Western funding and organisations, private companies and foundations, and non-western bilateral and multilateral donors (Davey et al., 2013). In other words, we adopt a Bourdieu-sian view of humanitarianism as a ‘field’ marked by contesting world-views and systems of values, which in turn inform power relations among actors engaged in the field (Leander, 2017).

Note on contributors 
Margaux Pinaud is Academic Coordinator of the executive programmes in conflict and fragility management at the Center on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. Her teaching and research focus on conflict management in civil wars, with a specific interest in ceasefires, armed group behaviour, and civil society participation. She is also involved in efforts to increase communication and cooperation between academia, policy, and practice.

Kristina Tschunkert is lecturer in conflict studies at the University of Manchester, UK. She was formerly Researcher with the Food, Peace and Security Programme at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Her research focuses on sustainable peace and the triple nexus, specifically how humanitarian interventions shape and are shaped by the socio-economic dimensions of peace.

Augusta Nannerini is PhD Candidate in International Relations and Political Science, Research Assistant at the Center on Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding and Affiliate to the Gender Center at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, Switzerland. Her PhD thesis revolves around the analysis of data practices in the context of forced displacement, and she is interested in their different use by development, humanitarian, and peacebuilding actors. 
She also studies European migration and asylum policies and she has experience in working with a number of humanitarian organisations.

Overviews are already available for the following chapters: 
Introduction: humanitarianism and inequality – a re-orientation

Humanitarianism and colonialism

Humanitarianism and the global Cold War, 1945–1991

Humanitarianism and the new wars: humanitarianism, security, and securitisation

Humanitarianism, development and peace: a southern perspective

Localisation and the humanitarian sector

Human rights and humanitarianism

Humanitarian organisations: behemoths and butterflies

Faith actors in humanitarianism: dynamics and inequalities

Diaspora assistance

Political solidarity movements and humanitarianism: lessons from Catalonia, Spain (1975–2020)

Subversive humanitarianism

Citizen’s groups and grassroots humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and the military

Race, racialisation, and coloniality in the humanitarian aid sector

Humanitarian organisations as gendered organisations

Sexuality and humanitarianism: colonial ‘hauntings’

Class matters in humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and disability

Media representations of humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and pandemics

Humanitarian technologies

Linguistic inequality in the humanitarian sector: unravelling English-centric multilingualism

Climate change, disasters and humanitarian action

Refugee protection and assistance

Trafficking in persons, long-term vulnerabilities, and humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and Native America

Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Regions

International humanitarianism in East Asia

West Asia and North Africa

Africa’s long fight for humanitarian self-sufficiency

The Latin American experience: inequality's role in shaping humanitarianism

Varieties of European humanitarianism

Humanitarian research ethics and the ethics of research in humanitarian settings

Archives and historical perspectives in researching humanitarianism

Quantitative Methods

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