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Dlamini, Khulekani T. and Hull, Elizabeth (2024) 'Translator as Researcher: Co-Producing Research on Food-Based Livelihoods in South Africa.' In: Sage Research Methods Cases: Diversifying and Decolonizing Research. London: Sage.

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Abstract

This case is based on a project in rural South Africa investigating food access and livelihoods after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The research entailed remote collaboration between an anthropologist and a locally based translator. By explaining how the authors developed and used a collaborative research process for qualitative data collection and analysis, it identifies the important factors that make this method feasible and productive. It highlights the ways that the collaborative research process itself generates a distinct body of data from which new insights can be drawn. Informed by decolonizing methodologies, it explores the implications of translation not merely as a technical role but one central to the politics of knowledge production. It discusses the ethical issues encountered in the research, arguing that co-producing and co-authoring research is not a silver bullet to achieving equitable research. Instead, it involves different kinds of power dynamics, institutional and technical constraints, as well as risks to be navigated. Developing critical reflexivity is essential for tackling these challenges.

Item Type: Book Chapters
SOAS Departments & Centres: Regional Centres and Institutes > Centre of African Studies
School Research Centres > SOAS Food Studies Centre
Departments and Subunits > Department of Anthropology & Sociology
ISBN: 9781529690576
DOI (Digital Object Identifier): https://doi.org/10.4135/9781529690576
Date Deposited: 05 Jul 2024 08:18
URI: https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/id/eprint/41072
Related URLs: https://methods ... ds-south-africa (Publisher URL)
Funders: Other

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