Coming into this project I felt like it would be disingenuous for me to ignore a key question. What does it mean for a white person from a Global North country to be conducting research in a Global South country?
Starting my Master’s program in International Development studies, I knew that I wanted to travel and conduct field research abroad. My interest in the Spanish language and passion for Latin American politics helped me determine the location of my case study: Cuba.
When I decided that I wanted to study food sovereignty in a country that had been heavily impacted by sanctions, I knew that Cuba would be a fascinating region for research.
However, quickly in my program, I felt discouraged from conducting field work abroad. The readings we did about research ethics, colonialism and western feminism had me questioning the ethics of white researchers traveling to Global South countries to study their cultures, societies, and development indicators.
In many ways this practice can be seen as a cultural colonialism. In the past, researchers have weaponized research to compare cultures and societies in order to justify colonialism, white supremacy and the spread of global capitalism.
Sometimes researchers portray peoples and societies in the Global South inappropriately and cause misinformation to spread. Whether it’s romanticizing a “traditional” or “underdeveloped” society or portraying them in a backwards and racist light, it’s important to conduct research that is well-informed and nuanced.
So, after deciding to study field sovereignty in Cuba, I had to determine whether or not I would be studying Cuba from abroad by focusing my study on books, literature, statistics, and Skype interviews, or whether I would be traveling to Cuban and doing in-person interviews.
I quickly realized that with limited internet access in Cuba I would be unable to communicate with anyone via Skype for my research. I considered both options seriously, but as my thesis proposal developed, I decided I would be studying food sovereignty from the perspective of consumption and culinary practices. As my research proposal developed, I realized that I would need to travel to Cuba and talk directly with Cuban people and participate in the culinary practices in order to follow through with my intended research objectives.
I was nervous about how I would navigate this research project ethically and successfully.
Little did I know, that I would be completing a 20 page ethics application with multiple revisions that would help me clear this up!
While this application prepared me for getting the consent of my interviewees, recording interviews, and disclosing information about my research to interviewees, it was all very technical.
I wish I could have read more books about how to navigate fieldwork in a foreign country while being mindful of my privilege, and how that informs the questions I ask, and the answers that I receive.
To be honest, I still struggle with the ethics of my role in this research.
With all of the reading articles I’ve read, the Spanish I’ve studied, the notes I’ve taken, the cookbooks I’ve studied, I felt informed on my area of research and that I had prepared extensively. Still, I can’t help but admit how much easier it would have been for a Cuban academic to navigate this terrain.
I faced many challenges, from understanding rapid Spanish in the Cuban accent, recruiting and contacting research participants, and feeling confident that I was asking all of the right questions.
I’ll continue writing and reflecting on this topic by explaining how I navigated difficult situations in the field with respect to this ethical dilemma.
Until then, adiós.
The Cuban Recipe for Food Sovereignty 