The potential of fieldwork under surveillance regimes: The case of Rwanda

Researchers have always worked under varying degrees of surveillance during their fieldwork. In societies where the domestic population faces heavy surveillance, monitoring of the fieldwork of foreign (or domestic) researchers should not be a surprise. Yet research under surveillance comes with many challenges for those conducting fieldwork at all stages – prior to, during and after fieldwork. Using the case of Rwanda, this paper highlights how researchers conducting fieldwork in the country have navigated these challenges but also faced intimidation and sometimes emotional distress. At the same time, many researchers (even those critical of the government) continue to have access to do fieldwork, demonstrating that even where there is heavy surveillance, researchers can still adopt strategies to continue doing fieldwork. This paper describes how experiences of research under surveillance, as well as rumours about the scale of monitoring in Rwanda, has shaped impressions of the difficulties of conducting fieldwork in the country. These discussions have also detrimentally affected the evolution of research communities doing research on Rwanda. The paper argues that as scholars, we have a duty to both warn students of the difficulties of fieldwork under surveillance but also support them in navigating challenges with doing fieldwork in societies that face heavy surveillance.