Remote collaborative fieldwork in the global South: Equity implications for researchers and participants

The international research community is paying increasing attention to inequities related to academic fieldwork in the global South. Globalisation, technological advancements, travel carbon footprint concerns and COVID-19 ramifications have made online fieldwork more viable. This has led to the rise of ‘remote collaborative fieldwork’, where Northern researchers participate online whilst Southern researchers are physically in the field. The equity implications of this model are yet to be explored. We employ a conceptual framework to assess equity dynamics associated with remote collaborative fieldwork in social sciences for Northern researchers, Southern researchers and Southern participants. We use qualitative fieldwork with Ghanaian smallholder farmers as a case study, analysing reflexive field notes and semi-structured interviews. We find that remote fieldwork does not change fundamental inequities between researchers and participants, such as extractive power dynamics, and involves various trade-offs, but may encourage the redistribution of research experience, budget allocation and decision-making towards Southern researchers.