Introduction to a special issue on collaborative research combined with public engagement

What is it about?

In recent decades, many anthropologists and social scientists in general have come to realise the relevance of becoming more publicly engaged beyond academic debates as well as the need to engage with research subjects and other partners in less hierarchical and collaborative ways. However, combining collaborative research and public anthropology is not always as easy as it seems. This text uses a discussion of the seven contributions to a special issue that this exposition introduces as a springboard for a more general discussion of the potentials and pitfalls of collaboration in engaged research.

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Why is it important?

This discussion is important because far too often it is assumed that collaborative research and public engagement easily go together and complement each other in unproblematic ways. However, when doing research with so-called "repugnant" or "unlikeable others" or with people holding views that go profoundly against the commitments of the researchers themselves, collaborative aspirations and public engagements may enter into a much more tense relationship. This text discusses a variety of different cases, in which such changing constellations play a role and use this discussion for offering four transversal conclusions regarding "collaborations and contestations in publicly engaged anthropologies".

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