Conceptualization, Field Research and Refugee-Host Relations in Guinea

A key version of the demographic argument that focuses on population size to explain intergroup relations is dependent on the association of population size with power and people's sense of empowerment. A significant flaw of this argument lies in an under conceptualization of power rooted in the fact that researchers do not always engage in the incessant back-and-forth that should take place between theorization and field research. The trenchant separation of phases of research into neat chronological blocks of theorization, field research and analysis can hamper the need to use research findings to modify theories and concepts and to employ such evolution in theorization to redirect field research. I demonstrate how such a process leads to a better understanding of the relationship between population size and inter-group relations by exploring refugee-host relations in the Forest Region of Guinea during the Mano River Basin wars of the 1990s and 2000s.