Interviewing Salafis in Tunisia: Ethical and Methodological Challenges of Fieldwork with Oppositional Communities

Abstract

This article critically reflects on the methodological and ethical challenges of my fieldwork involving interviews with Salafi fundamentalists in Tunisia (2017–2022). I focus on three key challenges often under-discussed in the study of Salafism: recruiting interviewees, building rapport, and balancing transparency and positionality with access. I revisit the critical role played by intermediaries and re-evaluate the costs and benefits of an outsider positionality in establishing rapport with suspicious communities, arguing that it may facilitate access if used strategically. I then argue that effective fieldwork often requires withholding the entire truth or playing with the emphasis—as opposed to lying—based on a distinction between the researcher’s role and identity. Finally, I challenge the notion of interviewing as strictly unilateral and extractive and discuss the strategic motives and tools that interviewees have to turn interviews to their advantage, including reverse questioning. My conclusions extend to all research on hard-to-reach populations.