Doing Global Fieldwork

Jesse Driscoll offers a how-to guide for social scientists who are considering extended mixed-methods international fieldwork. Doing Global Fieldwork is an up-to-date handbook for graduate students and social science researchers of all stripes who need blunt, no-nonsense advice about how to make the best of their time in the field.

Jesse Driscoll is associate professor of political science at the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California at San Diego. He is the author of Warlords and Coalition Politics in Post-Soviet States (2015), and he has conducted research in Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Somalia, Georgia, and Ukraine.

William Reno, author of Warfare in Independent Africa:
Every researcher headed for the field should read this book. Doing Global Fieldwork brings to the reader in plain and direct terms the reality that field research rarely goes according to plan. Experienced readers and those about to embark for field research for the first time will profit from the descriptions of how people's lives and the tumult of everyday events can sidetrack the most well thought out research designs. This book also is a guide to workarounds and ad hoc adaptations that will help the reader to get research done, especially for those headed to one of the many unstable, but not quite war-zone sorts of places. It is especially valuable for Driscoll's advice on making the oftentimes unexpectedly rough adjustment to life back home as one is called upon to translate the kaleidoscopic chaos of experience and improvisation into the cool, ordered product that will be read by people who did not get their hands dusty in the field or sweat as things fell apart.

Ora Szekely, coeditor of Stories from the Field: A Guide to Navigating Fieldwork in Political Science:
Driscoll invites the reader to think seriously about what it really means to do field research in political science—methodologically, intellectually, and emotionally. Based on his own considerable experience, he writes honestly about what’s hard about fieldwork and why it’s worth doing anyway.

Christian Davenport, coauthor of The Peace Continuum: What It Is and How to Study It:
Many graduate students (and even those who are more senior) wish to go on a journey to the other side of the world, explore for a while, collect something never before collected, and then come back to wherever home is and tell others within the academy (as well as hopefully some civilians) about what exists in the place/time that was visited. Employment, fame, and a decent wage await the successful (wealth not likely). Unfortunately, most academics are not prepared to go, or, if they are, they are not prepared to see things for what they are or if they are they are not prepared to report back on what was seen, presenting it in a manner that is simultaneously coherent, approachable, and maybe even elegant. Guided by an insight referred to as “improvisational pluralism” (a heightened ability to adjust both within as well as across diverse aspects of knowledge production) and a strong ethical compass/guardian angel, Jesse Driscoll in Doing Global Fieldwork prepares his reader with advice somewhere between Italo Calvino, Coach Carter, and James Scott. With this engagingly delivered as well as detailed guidance and encouragement, the reader will not only be ready to go on a journey into the unknown but they will also be ready to return from it with stories, data, and insights that will regale as well as with little to no harm being done to oneself or to others. Buy the book, absorb it, and then jump. You’ll thank him later.

Richard A. Nielsen, author of Deadly Clerics: Blocked Ambition and the Paths to Jihad:
If you have time to read only one book before you leave to do field research, read this one. If you have time to read two books before you leave, read this one twice. Driscoll's advice is honest, down-to-earth, and practical about reconciling the ideals of scientific inquiry with the messy realities of fieldwork. Reading it feels like having a conversation about your research with a wise friend.

Jennifer Brick Murtazashvili, author of Informal Order and the State in Afghanistan:
In Doing Global Fieldwork, Jesse Driscoll has given researchers a comprehensive guide to getting into the field and navigating the complexity of field-based research. He brings to bear his vast knowledge of the topic, based on his own years of experience. He does so with unexpected humor. This book should be required for scholars at any stage of their career who are considering jumping into the complexities of fieldwork. Most importantly, the book provides unparalleled insight into the nuts and bolts of fieldwork, that are often unspoken and that you will not find anywhere else.