My PhD research ('Making Noise: Sex Worker-led Organising and Knowledge Politics in Development Partnerships in Nairobi, Kenya'- defended in January 2024) explored how a queer male sex worker-led organisation in Nairobi, Kenya navigates and engages with the politics of knowledges in development partnerships in the official development aid system. It is often uncritically assumed that development partnerships (and the international development aid system more generally) are inclusive of the input and knowledge of all partners involved. Using ethnographic and community-led research methods, my thesis demonstrates that despite good intentions of individual actors involved, studying these arrangements from the perspective of sex workers shows that, in practice, this inclusivity is lacking.
In my current research I continue to explore the intricacies of knowledge politics in and outside of the development sector, and am currently in the process of developing and implementing Community-led Research and Action (CLRA) projects with marginalized communities. In relation to the complex process of doing CLRA, I have a special interest in exploring institutional boundaries and other academic shortcomings and vulnerabilities. Additionally, I am involved as coordinator of 'Common Ground Dialogues', a collaborative project involving Hungarian, Slovakian, French and Dutch partners (including the Vrije Universiteit), exploring how co-creative and arts-based methods can generate new forms of dialogue and reflection.
