By Celdric Payomo
Taking the LERRN Fieldwork Training and Cross-Cultural Research Course has been a valuable learning opportunity that bolstered my knowledge on the complexities surrounding the global phenomenon. Learning about the various facets of the topic through seminar discussions and lectures by experts within the field was an engaging experience as I was enriched by diverse and interdisciplinary perspectives that will be beneficial when I produce my own research. The comprehensive understanding that I have attained during my time with the course positions me as a competent researcher who poses the necessary skills and knowledge to circumnavigate the nuances within forced migration research.
The format of the course involved seminar discussions, guest speakers, and lecture videos, which worked well to enrich the students’ understanding of the material whilst providing ample opportunities to apply and build upon their knowledge. The students who participated in the course came from diverse backgrounds, which makes online lecture videos an accessible way to absorb the concepts and theories at a pace that aligns with their needs. Accompanying the videos with a broad list of literature that complements the lecture materials was an ideal way to expand upon our understanding if we were inclined to do so.
A notable takeaway from the course was that a majority of existing academic literature reflects the objectives and assumptions of the Global North. However, the majority of refugees are residing in the Global South due to the containment policy that the Global North implements. There is an existing disparity between the academic literature and the forced migration reality that scholars want to explore and interpret. This disparity is a disservice to the voices and experiences that researchers want to depict. Research produced in the context of an asymmetrical power dynamic between the Global North and Global South fails to provide a holistic understanding of the topic. Dominance of the Global North can be problematized within the mobilization of knowledge as it mostly represents a skewed narrative on the issue(s), which makes the solutions incompetent to address existing deficiencies in responses to displaced populations.
The awareness that I attained in the course parallels the realizations that I had within my own line of research. Within my MA thesis, I am inquiring into the access to justice experiences of racialized queers in Canada. Early within the research process, I became cognizant of the epistemic injustices occurring within the materials I was analyzing. The knowledge I was seeking out was sparse, which indicates that the stories of racialized persons were devalued and deemed unworthy to be included within queer narratives. Navigating existing materials that discuss the realities of LGBTQ+ people in Canada becomes complex as the voices of racialized persons are silenced, obscuring their realities. Providing a platform for marginalized populations requires researchers to be critical of existing systems, processes, and mechanisms that cumulatively silence the violence perpetrated against them. Recognizing the similarities between my own research and the dynamics within forced migration studies amplified my sense of social justice in challenging colonial/Western/Global North epistemology. Knowledge that can fundamentally alter the marginalization of marginalized populations requires disrupting the systems and institutions that actively work to oppress them.
Partaking in the course made me realize the false narratives that are proliferated regarding countries in the Global North being depicted as benevolent saviours within the context of global refugee intake. The narratives constructed, political discourse, and media portrayal illustrate the Global North as competently responsive to humanitarian crises. Canada is especially regarded as fundamentally different from its neighbour, the United States, as the nation is consistently portrayed as the peacekeeper and at the forefront to aid during instances of forced migration. However, the course lecture on Global Refugee Policy proved me otherwise, as countries in the Global South host a greater portion of refugees, often with less resources and support. The discursive formation of the Global North countries as leaders in the issue of forced migration depicts yet another example of Western supremacy that renders the contributions of countries from the Global South invisible. The state of global refugee policy emphasizes a need for literature that is produced to challenge the benevolent image communicated by the Global North, pressuring those from the Global North to address the disproportionate dynamic of forced migration.
Reflecting upon my time in the two weeks learning about the topics in forced migration, I understand the responsibilities that researchers must fulfill when engaging in the field. There is a long history of extractivism from researchers within the discipline, as they would exploit the experiences and insights of refugees and collaborators from the Global South for their own career aspirations. Compounding this problematic past is the asymmetrical power relation between the Global North and the Global South, which holds a risk of reproducing Global North/Western/colonial knowledge, rendering other objectives devalued within literature. It is a complex terrain through which researchers must navigate, but it is one that holds the potential for social justice within the problems that are experienced by refugees.
I believe that the course sets up future aspiring researchers within the field to competently engage in research work that avoids the violence enacted by those from the past. Those who come from out the course should feel more confident in realizing their research due to the important knowledge that they have attained from the course. Looking back at my time within the course, I am confident that I will be coming out as a competent researcher that can effectively engage within the studies of forced migration. The course manages to touch upon various theoretical concepts and analytical tools that will be valuable within the diverse career paths on which my peers and I will embark. I am excited by the type of works that will be produced due to our enhanced skillset that we have gained and honed throughout the course.
Author bio: Celdric Payomo
MA: Legal Studies | BA: Criminal Justice | Facilitator & Research Assistant | Work on how racialization shapes LGBTQ+ Canadians’ facets of reality |