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Rethinking conflict resolution research in post-war Bosnia and Hercegovina: A genealogical and ontological exploration

This thesis explores how research is implicated in the constitution of post-war
environments, and gives an account of being and becoming a researcher in
post-war Bosnia. My main contention is that when peace and conflict
researchers conduct research in post-war contexts, their presence, practices,
and the consequential production of knowledge and representations, have
political effects. I argue that the implications of this have not been fully
explained, acknowledged, or problematised within Conflict Resolution, which
tends to rely on research approaches and assumptions taken from ‘normal’
science. This thesis suggests how reflexivity and alternatives methodologies,
including visual research might be used to represent the emotional, sensory,
and often intangible elements of post-war realities. It enacts an engagement
in the politics of research and uses reflexive writing and visual methods to
draw attention to the importance of the relational aspects of research in postwar
environments. Visual journeys are also used to argue that visual
methods can provide a way of revisiting the epistemological and ontological
assumptions about lived experiences and realities in post-war settings. The
thesis is based upon one year of ethnographic fieldwork undertaken in
Bosnia, and is also informed by eighteen months of volunteer work with a
Bosnian Community Centre in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. / Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/15000
Date January 2012
CreatorsMuir, Rachel
ContributorsFetherston, A. Betts, Chesters, Graeme S.
PublisherUniversity of Bradford, Faculty of Social Sciences
Source SetsBradford Scholars
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis, doctoral, PhD
Rights<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>.

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