Doctoral Dissertation Research: Humanitarian Infrastructures and Networks of Protection

在不稳定或暴力的环境中，评估威胁和快速响应的能力对于安全配置至关重要。然而，在通信基础设施较差的环境中，这可能是具有挑战性的。该奖项支持的研究调查了一个在这种情况下使旧的通信系统适应当代使用的案例。研究人员将研究谁定义了不安全感，如何定义，谁负责提供安全，以及历史和技术如何塑造这些过程。这项研究的结果将为负责应对暴力和其他不稳定局势的政策制定者和其他利益攸关方提供支持。研究结果还将从理论上理解技术的动态社会效应和潜力。这项研究将由乔治华盛顿大学人类学博士生斯科特·罗斯进行，萨拉·E·瓦格纳博士负责指导。研究人员选择刚果东北部作为调查这一问题的地点，因为那里的当地和国际参与者扩展了一个旧的无线电网络，创建了一个新的预警网络，将没有其他通信基础设施的社区连接起来。这是研究地点唯一的通信基础设施，这一事实将使隔离通信系统的影响比在美国等存在多个系统的情况下更容易。主要的研究问题是：(1)使用旧技术是否强化了某些不安全的概念，并贬低了其他概念？(2)将安全机构本地化是否会重新改变人们理解他们与当局的关系的方式？(3)技术本身的局限性和历史如何影响其当代使用？研究人员将使用人种学和档案研究方法的混合来收集数据，包括参与者观察、访谈、网络分析和历史文献。研究人员将前往网络沿线的不同地点，收听无线电通信，采访操作员，并追踪信息如何在网络中传播。为了确保将研究成果传达给那些能够将其付诸实践的人，研究结果将通过公共媒体以及专业出版物和会议分享。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

In unstable or violent environments, the ability to assess threats and respond quickly is crucial to security provisioning. However, this can be challenging in environments with poor communication infrastructure. The research supported by this award investigates a case of adapting an old communication system for contemporary use in such situations. The researcher will examine who defines insecurity and how, who is responsible for providing security, and how history and technology shape these processes. Findings from this research will support policy makers and other stakeholders who are responsible for responding to violence and other kinds of instability. Research results also will provide theoretical understanding of the dynamic social effects and potentials of technologies.The research will be conducted by George Washington University anthropology doctoral student Scott Ross, with the supervision of Dr. Sarah E. Wagner. The researcher has chosen northeastern Congo as a site to investigate this problem because local and international actors there have expanded an old radio network to create a new Early Warning Network to connect communities who have no other communication infrastructure. The fact that this is the only communication infrastructure in the research site will make it easier to isolate the effects of the communication system than would be the case in a situation, such as the United States, where multiple systems are present. The overarching research questions are: (1) Does using an old technology reinforce certain conceptions of insecurity and discount others? (2) Does localizing a security apparatus reconfigure how people understand their relationship to authority? (3) How do the limits and history of the technology itself affect its contemporary use? The researcher will collect data using a mixture of ethnographic and archival research methods, including participant observation, interviews, network analysis, and historical documentation. The researcher will travel to different sites along the network, listen to radio communications, interview operators, and trace how information travels across the network. In order to assure that research outcomes are communicated to those who can put them into practice, results from the research will be shared through public media outletsas well as in professional publications and conferences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.