We are excited to announce plans for a PGR Political Geography session at the 2018 RGS-IBG Annual International Conference in Cardiff. Having received very positive feedback on the first such session held at the conference last year, we look forward to renewing this space for peer exchange on topics of particular relevance to postgraduate students working in political geography.
The theme for the 2018 session is ‘Emerging voices in political geography: navigating challenges, barriers and failures in the field’. A range of thought-provoking student presentations will kick off an interactive session, complemented by input from a discussant at a more advanced stage in their career. We warmly encourage abstracts for papers based on formative experiences relating to the theme from any stage of your research. Please note the abstract deadline of 5th February! For further details, see the call for papers below. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with any of us by email.
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Comments from participants in the ‘Emerging Voices in Political Geography’ session at the 2017 conference:
“It was an excellent session. Key was having a senior scholar there to comment on our work.”
“..this session was (quite surprisingly) one of the highlights of the entire conference for me. It was very well organised, the papers were diverse and interesting, the atmosphere friendly and supportive and meeting other phd students struggling with similar issues was reassuring and helpful. The structure of short talks and… response from a more seasoned academic was fantastic and the comments thoughtful and constructive. I would love to take part in another session if I could.”
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Call for Papers: RGS-IBG Annual International Conference, Cardiff University, 28-31 Aug 2018
Emerging voices in political geography: navigating challenges, barriers and failures in the field
Sponsored by the Political Geography Research Group (PolGRG)
Convenors: Leila Wilmers (Loughborough University), Angharad Butler-Rees (University of Southampton) and Nick Robinson (Royal Holloway, University of London)
A sense of foreboding or apprehension is commonplace for a researcher entering (or returning from) the field. Research in political geography can bring particular challenges, for example around the political sensitivity of the research topic in the field, or restrictions on research activities in politically charged environments. Often we are faced with difficulties of access, fears of insufficient data collection, or concerns over ethics and our positionality as researcher. Lessons from sticking points along the journey are often important in hindsight, and exploring common challenges with others at different stages can be of practical as well as motivational value, particularly for early career researchers. Yet too often these experiences are concealed, suppressed or even go unaddressed, with the potential of seriously impacting upon subsequent research output. This session invites frank discussion of vital stories and experiences from political geography fieldwork.
As Harrowell et. al (2017) recently outlined, failure is something of a taboo in geographical research. Postgraduates, for many different reasons, particularly struggle to confront issues concerning access, ethical dilemmas or unsuccessful research in the field. How should we, as political geographers, look to address this concern? By fostering a supportive, participatory discussion around the many issues faced by political geographers at different stages of their research, this session aims to set in motion a greater dialogue around addressing the fears and setbacks that come with the ‘doing’ of political geography research. The format of the session will consist of a series of brief initial presentations by postgraduate students based on individual experiences of fieldwork challenges. This will be followed by breakout discussions to workshop each type of challenge raised in the presentations, and a wider discussion aiming for a realistic and constructive approach to riding out the bumps of fieldwork, with reflections offered from an experienced political geographer.
We invite submissions focused on a particular fieldwork challenge from postgraduates working within the field of political geography at any stage of their research, and encourage the wider postgraduate community to attend and contribute to a lively and productive discussion. ‘Snapshots’ from fieldwork for a paper might include instances of rejection and discouragement, insurmountable ethical dilemmas, or reflections upon the trepidation and anxiety experienced as a researcher embarking on field research.
Session information
This session will take the form of multiple paper presentations of 10 minutes, followed by wider breakout discussions in a proposed ‘world cafe’ format.
Please send a 250-word abstract, along with name and affiliation, to Leila (l.wilmers@lboro.ac.uk), Angharad (a.butler-rees@soton.ac.uk), and Nick (Nicholas.Robinson.2014@live.rhul.ac.uk) by Monday 5th February 2018.
Many thanks,
Leila Wilmers, Angharad Butler-Rees, and Nick Robinson