This presentation builds on a short research perspectives article I published entitled “Safety is an Illusion: Conducting Feminist Research in War Zones” in Demokratizatsiya: The Journal of Post-Soviet Democratization in 2024. After returning from fieldwork research in Ukraine during Russia’s full-scale invasion, I wanted to share some lessons that I learned as a Westerner with significant in-country experience before the war and how this experience helped me pivot while conducting fieldwork during war. We are witnessing the highest number of conflicts and wars since the Second World War around the world today, so gender and politics researchers need to plan for different scenarios compared to fieldwork in non-conflict situations. While there has been a plethora of research from gender and politics scholars on genocide, sexual violence, peacebuilding, women’s peace and security, women combatants, and women’s experiences as refugees, few research studies highlight the perils of conducting fieldwork in an active war zone. I believe feminist fieldwork focusing on reflexivity is uniquely suited to this type of research because it considers different power structures, inequalities, and hierarchies between men and women in society. Gathering data in the field is rife with power relations, especially when some scholars, particularly from the West, seek to capitalize on wars and political strife with no previous experience or cultural knowledge of the country. Feminist fieldwork is more challenging to do in a war zone when the inequalities, marginalization, and vulnerabilities are amplified, and safety is precarious. While there are many limitations to conducting feminist fieldwork during war, there are some things that researchers can do to manage danger, mitigate harm, give back to the community, and avoid exploitation and tokenization. Employing a feminist approach to research in war zones allows gender and politics researchers could conduct research thoughtfully in this environment without further harming interlocutors.
