Negotiating Group Identity in the Research Process: Are You In or Are You Out? focuses on researcher identity and the role it plays in conducting research, whether as a member of the culture being studied (i.e., an insider) or as an outsider to that culture. Contributors address the problems researchers face as insiders and outsiders, the practical strategies used to overcome related obstacles, the implications of insider/outsider status for the design of the study, the value of insider and outsider perspectives, the impact of this on the findings of a study, the implications for advocating on behalf of a group being studied, and other important topics. These scholars are from within and outside the field of communication and include well-known and emerging scholars who have studied a multitude of groups using various methodological strategies.

Immigration is even more hotly debated in Europe than in the United States. In this pivotal work of action and discourse analysis, Riva Kastoryano draws on extensive fieldwork--including interviews with politicians, immigrant leaders, and militants--to analyze interactions between states and immigrants in France and Germany. Making frequent comparisons to the United States, she delineates the role of states in constructing group identities and measures the impact of immigrant organization and mobilization on national identity. Kastoryano argues that states contribute directly and indirectly to the elaboration of immigrants' identity, in part by articulating the grounds on which their groups are granted legitimacy. Conversely, immigrant organizations demanding recognition often redefine national identity by reinforcing or modifying traditional sentiments. They use culture--national references in Germany and religion in France--to negotiate new political identities in ways that alter state composition and lead the state to negotiate its identity as well. Despite their different histories, Kastoryano finds that Germany, France, and the United States are converging in their policies toward immigration control and integration. All three have adopted similar tactics and made similar institutional adjustments in their efforts to reconcile differences while tending national integrity. The author builds her observations into a model of ''negotiations of identities'' useful to a broad cross-section of social scientists and policy specialists. She extends her analysis to consider how the European Union and transnational networks affect identities still negotiated at the national level. The result is a forward-thinking book that illuminates immigration from a new angle.

This international, edited collection brings together personal accounts from researchers working in and on conflict and explores the roles of emotion, violence, uncertainty, identity and positionality within the process of doing research, as well as the complexity of methodological choices. It highlights the researchers’ own subjectivity and presents a nuanced view of conflict research that goes beyond the ‘messiness’ inherent in the process of research in and on violence. It addresses the uncomfortable spaces of conflict research, the potential for violence of research itself and the need for deeper reflection on these issues. This powerful book opens up spaces for new conversations about the realities of conflict research. These critical self-reflections and honest accounts provide important insights for any scholar or practitioner working in similar environments.

Microfinance has long been considered a development strategy that can correct the failure of the global credit market and address the financial needs of the poor enabling them to create and run profitable business enterprises. The Microfinance Mirage argues that this neo-liberal oriented analysis overemphasises the economic argument whilst ignoring the cultural roots of inequality and subordination. Drawing on ethnographic research conducted among rural credit clients in the Northern region of Ethiopia, Esayas Bekele Geleta provides a nuanced critical analysis of microfinance challenging the common assumption that it facilitates the building of social capital, poverty reduction and the empowerment of women. Making a unique contribution to our further understanding of the microfinance industry the research shows that, in some cases, microfinance can result in the disintegration of pre-existing relationships and in the disruption and destruction of the livelihoods of the poor. Exploring the impact of microfinance in one of the poorest regions of sub-Saharan Africa, this book demonstrates its potential and problems and shows the complex and contradictory social and cultural environments in which projects are often located.

Over one billion people access the internet worldwide, and new problems of language, security, and culture accompany this access. To foster productive and effective communication, it becomes imperative to understand people’s different linguistic and cultural backgrounds, as well as their value systems. Reconceptualizing New Media and Intercultural Communication in a Networked Society is a critical scholarly resource that addresses the need for understanding the complex connections between culture and new media. Featuring a broad range of topics such as social presence, crisis communication, and hyperpersonal communication model, this book is geared towards academicians, researchers, professionals, practitioners, and students seeking current research on the discipline of intercultural communication and new media.

This Handbook combines a review of negotiation research with state-of-the-art commentary on the future of negotiation theory and research. Leading international scholars give insight into both the factors known to shape negotiation and the questions that we need to answer as we strive to deepen our understanding of the negotiation process. This Handbook provides analyses of the negotiation process from four distinct perspectives: negotiators' cognition and emotion, social processes and social inferences, communication processes, and complex negotiations, covering trade, peace, environment, and crisis negotiations. Providing an introduction to key topics in negotiation, written by leading researchers in the field, the book will prove insightful for undergraduate students. It also incorporates an excellent summary of past research as well as highlights new directions negotiation research might take which will be valuable for postgraduate students and academics wishing to expand their knowledge on the subject.

This volume presents contributions made by Daniel Druckman on the topics of negotiation, national identity, and justice. Containing research conducted and published over a half century, the volume is divided into seven thematic parts that cover: the multifaceted career, flexibility in negotiation, values and interests, turning points, national identity, and process and outcome justice. It rounds off with a reflective and forward-looking conclusion. Each part is prefaced with an introduction that highlights the chapters to follow. The chapters comprise empirical, theoretical, and state-of-the-art articles. These essays offer an array of research approaches, which include experiments, simulations, and case studies, with topics ranging from boundary roles and turning points in negotiation to nationalism and war, and the way that research is used in skills training for diplomats and in the development of government policies. In addition, the book provides rare glimpses of behind-the-scenes networks, sponsors, and events, with personal stories that also make evident that there is more to a career than what appears in print. The articles chosen for inclusion are a small set of the total number of career publications by the author but are the ones that made a substantial impact in their respective fields. The concluding section looks back at how the author’s career connects to classical ideas and the value of an evidence-based approach to scholarship and practice. It also looks forward to directions for future research in six areas. This book will be of considerable interest to students of international negotiation, conflict resolution, security studies, and international relations.