Managing uncertainty: how risk assessment can empower field research

The discussion on risk in social science fieldwork has seen two diametrically opposed positions. On the one hand, there are those who advocate risk avoidance. Frequently driven by concerns about legal exposure and insurance coverage, such perspectives tend to predominate in university administrations and among funding bodies. They consequently also shape the risk assessment procedures many research projects must clear. Their main aim is to minimize risk by avoiding risky research topics and field sites altogether. Taken to its logical conclusion, however, such a position would endanger knowledge production on issues of central social and political importance