Conducting Fieldwork in Post-Uprisings Egypt: Researching Political Education and Civil Society Under Authoritarian Contexts

This case study is primarily based on my PhD research conducted on Egyptian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and their political educational activities. I was interested in analysing three important notions: how informal political education provided through CSOs plays a role in aiding social change and developing critical consciousness, how the Egyptian state attempts to repress CSOs and their political educational activities, and how CSOs are trying to overcome such hindrances. My fieldwork took place in Cairo between June and November 2014, and involved semi-structured interviews and participant observations that focused on sixteen CSOs comprising political parties, rights-based organisations (focusing on human rights, labour rights, and women’s rights) and educational organisations. Unsurprisingly, conducting such research in a country under ‘political transition’ infers a host of challenges in terms of approaching the field, the participants, and importantly on the research process itself. Therefore, the aim of this case study is to outline the potential difficulties and dilemmas encountered when conducting research under authoritarian contexts. Accordingly, I do not only illustrate my research methods, but I also focus on the issues encountered during fieldwork such as contacting CSOs and their members, obtaining the trust and consent of participants, adhering to ethical considerations, as well as ensuring the safety of both myself and the participants. I also briefly cover the problematics surrounding translations and transcriptions.