Two weeks after the Asian tsunami in 2004, I saw a flood of researchers from Western universities and institutions arrive in Sri Lanka. Most of them were social researchers and they wanted to examine the ‘resilience’ and ‘trauma’ of local populations, as well as other social issues, including ‘gender issues’ and many more. They applied Western style research and ethical frameworks, which many community leaders found difficult and challenging. Most of these researchers did not purposefully ignore the broader social context in which their research took place, yet their research tended to neglect that tsunami-affected communities are also emerging from decades of civil war.
As a social researcher and a Sri Lankan, this made me re-think and evaluate my own work with local populations. Through this process, I developed a sense of respect and acknowledgement of different moral and ethical frameworks of communities that I work with...
To read the rest of Janaka Jayawickrama's reflections on conducting research in Sudan, Malawi, Jordan, Pakistan and Sri Lanka since 2005, please click here.