Towards a Plural Epistemology: Qualitative Research and the Myth of Homogeneity in Fragile Contexts

Abstract

Ethnographic research in fragile and conflict-affected settings (FCAS) is frequently distorted by an implicit assumption of social and cultural homogeneity. In Somalia, a society defined by profound internal differentiation across clan structures, gender relations, generational identities, livelihood systems, geographic locations, and diaspora affiliations, this distortion is particularly consequential. This paper critically reviews thirty-one peer-reviewed sources published between 2023 and 2026 to interrogate what we term the ‘myth of homogeneity’: the methodological and epistemological tendency to treat internally differentiated societies as socially uniform units. Two guiding questions organise the review: first, how does the myth of homogeneity shape ethnographic knowledge production in fragile contexts? Second, what methodological alternatives can centre heterogeneity, reflexivity, and participatory knowledge production? Drawing on scholarship in ethnographic methodology, feminist research, decolonial epistemology, and fragile state governance, the paper argues that homogeneity-premised research designs produce epistemic distortion and contribute to misinformed policy and humanitarian interventions. The review reveals that a significant proportion of recent scholarship on Somalia relies on urban-centric, IDP-focused, or male-dominated samples, systematically excluding pastoralist, rural, coastal, minority-clan, and diaspora voices. The review is organised around five thematic areas: conceptual foundations, Somali heterogeneity, methodological challenges, ethical imperatives, and reconstructive methodological pathways. It concludes by proposing the Heterogeneity-Centred Ethnographic Framework for Fragile Contexts (HCEFF), built on five operational principles — intersectional sampling, multi-sited ethnography, reflexive positionality, participatory co-production, and attention to access economies as practical tools for rigorous, ethical qualitative inquiry in fragile contexts. Adopted systematically, this framework has the potential to reorient Somali studies and comparable FCAS scholarship toward epistemically accountable and policy-relevant knowledge production.