Experiences. Reflecting and comparing research on negotiations
Chapter in Conducting Research on Global Environmental Agreement-Making
This chapter provides practical guidance on conducting fieldwork at international environmental conferences by drawing on the experiences of four advanced or recently completed PhD research projects: two on the climate change negotiations and two on biodiversity beyond national jurisdictions. The four cases focus on different actors and aspects of the negotiations and represent different degrees of immersion that the researchers had in the process. After a brief presentation of each of the projects, their commonalities and differences are analyzed in terms of four main aspects: access and preparation, data gathering, data analysis, and positionality. Through these case studies, the chapter explores the application of theories and methods from across the book and a range of challenges and opportunities faced during different stages of the research. The chapter also identifies adjustments to digital ethnography that were necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic and concludes with recommendations for early career researchers intending to study global environmental agreement-making as part of their PhD research.
Langlet, A., Leiter, T., Wysocki, I., & Thew, H. (2023). Experiences: Reflecting and Comparing Research on Negotiations. In H. Hughes & A. Vadrot (Eds.), Conducting Research on Global Environmental Agreement-Making (pp. 249-266). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/9781009179454.014