The misrepresentation of minority groups in research during the colonial period has had lasting effects, impacting the way in which such groups are represented and represent themselves, and how they are seen in academic research and treated by researchers.
Emancipatory research based on the co-creation of knowledge is a way to prevent further harm.
PhD researcher Delphin Ntanyoma discusses the case of the Banyamulenge in the DRC, showing how social and political settings, as well as historical oversights, errors and rationalizations are perpetuating harm against minority groups.
He highlights how researchers can prevent further harm and conduct and write about their research in ways that cannot be misused in the future. He makes a plea for the decolonialization of research and for researchers to pay closer attention to how members of given minority groups are constrained in their ability to contribute to research because of what is imposed on them by their social and political settings, and by historical oversights, errors and rationalizations.
Read the full post - Transformative Methodologies | How emancipatory research can help prevent the misrepresentation of marginalised groups in conflict-prone settings, Delphin Ntanyoma, 26 January 2022.
- PhD student