An Interrupted Line: Reflections on Research Partnerships for Justice in a COVID and post COVID World

Human rights and transitional justice research have an epistemological dilemma at their core. How to research, to represent, and to claim to know about harms which have been described as unspeakable and unknowable. The aim to generate a body of knowledge which can deepen understanding and influence practice, has brought together particular constellations of actors – researchers, policy makers, practitioners, activists – across globally diverse networks. These collaborations are important, and we need to know more about how they function in order to understand the politics of knowledge which underpins calls to justice. In this exploratory paper I focus on a particular sub-set of collaborations, that of research partnerships between the Global North and the Global South. I will draw on the findings of the recently completed ‘Knowledge for Peace. Understanding Research, Policy, Practice Synergies’ project and my current observations of ongoing research projects to reflect on what the COVID pandemic means for the way we do research together. Partnerships ‘at a distance’ require innovation, patience, and trust and they also bring to light inequalities in the way partnerships are often set up. This is important for speaking back to the plethora of research partnerships principles and demands from funders as well as making sure that the knowledge we produce is done so in ethical and inclusive ways.