This session of Qualifie working group features a presentation by Jonathan Luke Austin (University of Copenhagen)
How do we conduct interviews with actors whose moral, political, or strategic positions we fundamentally disagree with? What does it mean to engage people in positions of power who may place our research, or ourselves, at risk? How should researchers approach interactions with potentially dangerous interlocutors, such as members of armed groups, rebels, or other actors involved in violent practices?
This session with Jonathan Luke Austin will explore the ethical, methodological, and practical challenges of interviewing contentious actors in qualitative and field-based research. The discussion will focus on navigating moral discomfort, managing power asymmetries, ensuring researcher safety, and reflecting on the epistemic and ethical stakes of engaging with such interlocutors. Drawing on Jonathan’s own research experience, we will reflect on interviewing practices in high-stakes political contexts and invite participants into a broader conversation about risk, responsibility, and reflexivity in political and social science research.
About the Speaker:
Jonathan Luke Austin is Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Copenhagen and Director of the Centre for Advanced Security Theory (CAST). His research focuses on political violence, international security, and the ethical and methodological challenges of qualitative research in high-risk and politically sensitive contexts. He has published widely on political violence, security theory, and interpretive methods, with particular attention to judgment, reflexivity, and research encounters with powerful and contentious actors. Currently he leads on a project on the Future of Humanitarian Design and is carrying out fieldwork in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which he will discuss during this event.
The Zoom link will be sent upon registration.
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