Drawing on a recently published special issue of ‘Conflict, Security, and Development’, this presentation and panel discussion draws together scholars who conduct fieldwork in challenging environments for a frank dialogue on the ethical difficulties faced by researchers. With Dr Christine Cheng (War Studies, King’s College London), Gloriana Rodriguez Alvarez (African Leadership Centre, King’s College London), and Dr Ibrahim Bangura (University of Sierra Leone; AfOx Visiting Fellow, Oxford).
Chair: Professor John Gledhill.

Despite the rapid growth of research on violent groups, militias, rebel movements, and state security forces, the questions about how scholars conduct this research have remained under-explored, leaving critical gaps in how we think about ethics, power, risk, and responsibilities once we leave ‘the field’. How do we navigate the tension between accessing fieldwork sites and maintaining research integrity when state actors have significant leverage (mobility, visas, permits, or funding)? How do we engage with political elites and armed actors- state and non-state- without reinforcing power dynamics or compromising the safety of local communities and research teams? How can we amplify the voices of marginalized groups, including women and gender-diverse individuals, while being attentive to their vulnerability and agency?
Drawing on recent contributions that call for more reflexive, adaptive, and context-sensitive approaches to research ethics, this event will explore themes such as power asymmetries, positionality, researcher safety, and the limits of formal ethics frameworks. Rather than offering prescriptive solutions, the conversation will surface the dilemmas, trade-offs, and practical strategies that researchers grapple with in the field. The goal is to create space for collective reflection on how to pursue rigorous, ethical, and responsible research in conflict-affected settings—while acknowledging the messiness, risks, and contradictions that come with this work.