Decades of advocacy by refugees and asylum seekers has led to growing recognition of the importance of centring those with lived experience of displacement in the production of research – as partners, not just participants.
What is knowledge, and who has the right to create it? The production of knowledge is a form of power. Throughout history, dominant ideas of who has the right to create knowledge have been limited and exclusionary. Some perspectives – the colonial, Eurocentric, heteronormative, and male – have been privileged at the expense of the rest.
The refugee sector has not been immune to these challenges. In recent years, researchers from forced migration backgrounds have drawn attention to the consequences of excluding refugees from the production of knowledge about refugees. When it comes to research relating to refugees, narrow ideas of ‘expertise’ and ‘neutrality’ confer some academics with authority, while those with lived experience of displacement are often seen as victims not critical voices in their own right.
When research production is governed by these limited perspectives, it can perpetuate uneven privileges, hierarchies, and power imbalances. An explainer video by Dr Tristan Harley from the Kaldor Centre and Najeeba Wazefadost from the Asia Pacific Network of Refugees explores one potential solution: co-produced research. Co-produced research is a way to create knowledge inclusively. Researchers and those impacted by research findings work in partnership as co-creators of knowledge, Harley and Wazefadost explain.
Co-produced research is a methodology which requires a commitment to share responsibility and decision-making power – from the start to the end of the project – and actively prioritise and value the inclusion of people with lived experience of the topic. But it can also extend far beyond this. As Harley and Wazefadost conclude, co-produced research can challenge traditional understandings of what an ‘expert’ is. It has the potential to redress power imbalances and create a democratic approach to knowledge production.
In the explainer video, Harley and Wazefadost step through key considerations for anyone with an interest in co-produced research: the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’. This builds upon their work on the Guidelines for Co-produced Research with Refugees and Other People with Lived Experience of Displacement, released in May 2023.
These Guidelines were developed through extensive consultation and are an important resource for any stakeholders engaging in co-produced research, including universities, governments, donors, ethics review committees, NGOs, intergovernmental organisations, and community groups that may be involved in or impacted by the research. They are also available in Arabic, French and Spanish.
Watch the video, ‘Co-producing Research with Refugees and Other People with Lived Experience of Displacement’.
For more information, visit the Kaldor Centre for International Refugee Law.