Reflexive advising: engaged mentorship for safe and ethical research practice

Political science arrived comparatively late to conversations regarding fieldwork safety. Professional fields such as journalism and humanitarian aid began providing practical training—including first aid and risk assessment strategies—to employees deployed to violence-affected, repressive, and unstable contexts starting in the 1990s (Lake and Parkinson 2017). Like their colleagues in other fields, academics often travel to remote places, examine contentious topics, and rely heavily on local buy-in for access and safety. Even as research in such sites has increased, many scholars report feeling practically unprepared for their fieldwork (Cronin-Furman and Schwartz 2020).