قصتي مع نورا : الصداقة كمنهج للبحث في أزمنة الأزمات

Abstract EN

This paper is about the role of friendship as an ethnographic research method and as a humanistic method in times of crisis.

Following Robben (2010), I argue that anthropological research in parts of the world that are inaccessible due to war, conflict and violence, sometimes need unconventional methodologies.

I use my long-standing friendship with Noura, a Yemeni woman living in the port city of Hodeidah, and two life story interviews withher as data to discuss the impact of the crisis on ordinary people.

Friendship is for me a suitable research method, because the insights that ensue from a long-standing personal relationship may provide more depth than conventional research methods.

In addition, I argue that friendship is an important humanistic method in times of crisis; through friendship we can show our solidarity with people in difficult political and economic circumstances.

Yet, using friendship as a method also raises serious issues because of the endemic power inequalities between researcher and informant, which can become accentuated in times of crisis when financial issues come into play.