Research ethics in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip: between institutionalisation and the power of praxis

ABSTRACT

‘Research is a major aspect and fundamental component of many social struggles and movements for change' [Choudry, A. 2013a. “Activist Research Practice: Exploring Research and Knowledge Production for Social Action.” Socialist Studies/Études Socialistes 9 (1): 128 151. doi:10.18740/S4G01K, 128]. For Palestinians, research and knowledge production are vital for their ongoing anti-colonial struggle. However, there are various factors that restrict these processes and create an unsafe environment to produce liberatory knowledge(s) related to political and social activism. Some of these factors are the colonisers' prolonged oppression of Palestinian thought, narrative(s) and theorising, which is exacerbated by an oppressive Palestinian Authority – essentially an authoritarian body governing the Palestinian population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip; and the imposed hyper institutionalisation of academic and intellectual spaces, by donors’ strategies which create a need to meet global academic criteria by Palestinian institutions. This article engages with research ethics as a specific aspect within the process of knowledge production and dissemination. It critically looks at procedural research ethics that frame research conduct, including data generation, data analysis and modes of dissemination. In Palestine, research is being conducted under settler colonialism, apartheid and repressive ruling authorit(ies). This poses unique conditions that challenge standardised institutional ethics procedures and existing power dynamics within academic and research institutions. Additionally, in Palestine, there is a situation of excessive research – that is almost entirely dependent on foreign funding and the avoidance of clashes with the ruling authorit(ies). Hence, research ethics could be used as a tool for objectification and violence normalisation [Abdelnour, S., and M. Abu Moghli. 2021. “Researching Violent Contexts: A Call for Political Reflexivity.” Organization, 1–24]. The article argues that within the Palestinian context, institutionalised ethics procedures in universities and research institutions are almost never sensitive to the particularities of the context and/or the knowledge production and dissemination needs of a nation struggling for liberation. It also argues that utilising research ethics beyond standardised institutional procedures could be a tool for emancipation and the building of collective anti-colonial consciousness and critical education.

KEYWORDS:

• Research ethics
• activist research
• knowledge production
• settler colonialism
• institutionalisation
• Palestine

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Morality and ethics are used interchangeably in Arabic (Akhlaq اخلاق), for that this statement is relevant to the topic of research ethics which this article is engaging with.

2 The Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) is part of the UK’s official development assistance and is managed by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Arab Council for the Social Sciences.