Doing research in human communities touches on issues of fairness, power, control, inequality, privilege, and competing purposes. Chapter 3 examines fieldwork ethics in some detail, and throughout the book common ethical quandaries are presented, giving students the opportunity to reason through them in light of the discipline’s ethical principles. Here we offer a number of other scenarios involving ethical dilemmas to help you strengthen your fieldwork ethics IQ. Show
Since 2012, the American Anthropological Association’s Principles of Professional Responsibility state:
For elaboration on what is involved in these principles, consult the inside front cover of the book. In crafting an ethical position on the following scenarios, you should strive to achieve:
Scenarios for Ethical Consideration Here you will find three themes around which issues of fieldwork ethics are commonly associated—fieldworker responsibilities, controlling knowledge, and doing no harm—providing a few scenarios under each for you to consider. These are all realistic scenarios. [1] Fieldworker’s Responsibilities: To whom and to what are anthropological fieldworkers responsible? Rejecting anonymity Witness to illegal
activities Protecting a key research collaborator Controlling Knowledge: Who should control anthropological research, findings, and knowledge? Who should have access to the field notes? Giving credit Who owns the knowledge? Doing No Harm: How can and should fieldworkers ensure that their work does not cause harm to their research collaborators and the communities in which they work? Harmful representations You are researching a minority community about which many negative stereotypes exist in the broader society. Members of the community organize a display for a local cultural heritage festival, which reproduces a lot of those stereotypes, but they take great pride in the display they have created. Your perspective is at odds with the community because you see these representations as perpetuating negative and harmful stereotypes. Do you have any obligation to communicate your perspective with members of the community? Should any writings you publish withhold your critical perspective on this situation? Studying up You are studying the everyday lives of people with a lot of wealth, political access, and social privilege. You find them socially-insulated, condescending, entitled, and uncurious about the effects of their lifestyles and decisions on others. You hear them say many negative things about people of lower social class, and see them do abusive things to the people who work for them. If you report these things in your writings, you could make these people look very bad. Are you under any obligation to avoid harmful representations of them? The rough draft (This is an actual situation experienced by author Luis Vivanco, and is a bit longer than the others.) Luis conducted 20 months of ethnographic fieldwork for his Ph.D. dissertation in rural Costa Rica on the culture and politics of environmental activism, sustainable development, and ecotourism. During that time, he built strong relationships with a wide range of people in the community who were otherwise sometimes in tension with each other. Luis could circulate easily among peasant farmers or tourism entrepreneurs, and at the same time develop good relations with scientists and environmental activists who held totally opposed ideas. He interviewed people from all of these categories in depth and on multiple occasions. With one American ecologist and environmentalist in particular, a man named “Joe,” Luis had an especially strong relationship. Joe was a North American ecology professor who lived in the community and was a leader in a major environmental organization Luis was studying. Not only was Joe an “informant” who was interviewed on many occasions, but also Luis’s friend and collaborator on various projects in which Joe had invited Luis to get involved. After leaving the field, Luis kept in touch with Joe through periodic emails. A year and a half passed after Luis left the field, and Luis was close to finishing his dissertation when Joe sent him an email, asking Luis to send a draft of the dissertation so that Joe and his collaborators in the environmental organization could review the dissertation for “accuracy.” When he set out to research the environmental organization Joe was involved in, Luis was never asked to submit any drafts for review or organizational approval previous to its publication, nor did he offer to do it. He was worried that if he didn’t agree to this request it might upset the positive relations with both Joe and the organization he had built over the past several years. Yet his dissertation gets into locally controversial matters in which Joe and his organization were involved, and Luis knew that they were sensitive to the images circulating about them internationally that made them look bad, especially their sometimes hostile relations with local peasant farmers. Luis feared that Joe and his organization might claim those descriptions and images were “inaccurate” and seek to prevent their publication, which could undermine or delay his receiving his degree. What should Luis do? More Case Studies Each fieldwork situation is unique, and you will have to think through the ethics and potential consequences of your actions for yourself. However, it can be helpful to see how other ethnographers have handled similar situations:
[1] Some of these scenarios are inspired by, but different in details from, situations found in Chapter 3 of the American Anthropological Association’s Ethics
Handbook.http://www.americananthro.org/LearnAndTeach/Content.aspx? What factors do medical anthropologist think we need to consider if we are to reduce the suffering in human life?Cards
How do anthropologists face the ethical challenges that emerge through conducting anthropological research?How do anthropologists face the ethical challenges that emerge through conducting anthropological research? Anthropologists must stay aware of the potential uses and abuses of anthropological knowledge and the ways that it is obtained. What can anthropology contribute to the understanding of globalization?
Which of the following are reasons that studying anthropology would benefit someone planning to pursue a career in international business quizlet?Which of the following are reasons that studying anthropology would benefit someone planning to pursue a career in international business? Anthropologists study diverse lifestyles, which provides useful knowledge in international business. Understanding culture provides useful knowledge in international business.
Which of the following best defines the goal of modern applied anthropology quizlet?Which of the following best defines the goal of modern applied anthropology? Modern applied anthropology is a helping profession, designed to assist local people.
|