Beyond “Being There”: Space and Mobility in Ethnographic Peace and Transitional Justice Research

Abstract

This chapter argues for the importance of integrating attention to space and mobility in ethnographic research focusing on peace and transitional justice research. While movement to the field and occupying the site under study are part of all ethnographic research, space and mobility also must be understood as central to the process of rigorous ethnographic data collection. Focus on space and mobility as crucial aspects of ethnographic research allows peace and transitional justice researchers to attend to the spatial contours of conflict and gain insight into how well and to what extent peace and transitional justice efforts respond to the material consequences of conflict in people’s everyday lives.