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Collaborative methodologies cannot only strengthen the rigor of political science research; they also can offer the possibility of decolonizing knowledge production. Historically, research conducted by Western researchers in Africa and many regions of the Global South has perpetuated neocolonial power dynamics and reaffirmed inequalities (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2018; Zeleza 2009). Often supported by substantial grants, political scientists from the Global North frequently arrived with the entire project specified, or even publicly preregistered, and solicited help from local translators or enumerators to accelerate the “extraction of data” from local respondents or subjects. Many of the dominant methodologies in political science elevate researchers to a position of great power and control as compared to the “researched” (MacLean 2013; Riley, Schouten, and Cahill 2003). In contrast, collaborative methodologies are premised on greater involvement of local scholars and participants in a more inductive and iterative approach to research (Yom 2015).
Drawing on a recent project, this article analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of our collaborative methodology. We explain how including a broader range of perspectives from scholars and citizens of the Global South improved the case selection and strengthened the conceptualization and measurement of key concepts. In addition to enhancing critical aspects of research design, collaborative methodologies enabled us to begin to decolonize knowledge production. However, we also reveal multiple structural barriers that limit the realization of decolonization.
In the following sections, we explore the concept of collaboration in research methodology and describe how we applied this approach. We then show how including diverse perspectives enabled us to develop a theoretically rigorous, feasible, and ethical selection of communities and focus group participants. Next, we demonstrate how integrating insights from study participants fostered a more nuanced understanding of the local salience of “climate change” and a revised conceptualization of political participation. We then examine both the potential of and the limits to decolonization, offering strategies to overcome the obstacles. We conclude with a commitment to expanding collaborative initiatives well beyond the Global South.
COLLABORATION AS A MEANS TO DECOLONIZE KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION
We contend that collaboration has a more significant possibility of decolonizing the production of knowledge. Decolonization can occur when we first decolonize the research team. Research-team members must work together to decolonize knowledge production by collaborating at every stage of the...