In this chapter, the authors trace out the “natural history” of an intensely collaborative multisited comparison, which was distinct from many other comparative research projects because research at each site was carried out by a PhD-level anthropologist who was involved in the scientific development of the project rather than only in the implementation of a centrally directed project. It draws on their experiences with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, a large, US National Institutes of Health–funded multisite project, to discuss ways in which that comparative research could have been even more powerful, things that future comparative research should strive to avoid, recommended best practices, and what the authors would call “minimum adequate” approaches to comparative ethnography.

Chapter 1 introduces The Law of the List and the ISIL and Al-Qaida listing regime, sets out the key research questions it addresses and highlights the relevant literatures that are engaged with. It introduces the three key analytical moves of this book – (i) studying global law as a legal assemblage, (ii) examining risk and preemption as practices of governmentality, and (iii) rethinking the problem of exceptional governance. The introductory chapter also positions this book as a methodological experiment in situated knowledge production. The author’s own role within the listing assemblage as a practising lawyer representing listed individuals is discussed. Drawing on Science and Technology Studies (STS) scholarship, it is argued that methods are performative. They enact and interfere with the worlds they describe and so are intensely political. Three distinct methodological moves of this book are also highlighted - studying the ISIL and Al-Qaida list as a multisited research object by focusing on local global ‘structure-making sites’; empirically examining the role of practices in global security law and governance; and using leaked documents to study global security law that would otherwise be secret. The chapter closes with a brief overview of the structure of the book.