Ethical issues in cultural
anthropology
“Those who confront violence with resistance-whether it be cultural or political—do not escape
unscathed from the terror and oppression they rise
up against. The challenge of ethnography then, is to
check the impulse to sanitize, and instead to clarify
the chains of causality that link structural, political,
and symbolic violence that buttresses unequal power
relations and distorts efforts at resistance
(Bourgois 2004: 433).
Ethical issues and anthropology
• Notions of right and wrong
• Concerns about our intentions (academic
and otherwise) towards others, institutions,
governments, etc.
• Our responsibilities towards social groups
(collectivities) and individuals
Anthropological (ethical)
controversies:
• The project Camelot
• The Thailand controversy
The project Camelot (1960’s and
70’s)
• Collection of large amount of primary and
secondary data on Latin America by the USA
government
• Ethnographic data was of great interest
• Emergence within the conjuncture of the global
politics
The Thailand Controversy
(1960’s)
• Anthropological data used by the USA
government to fight insurgents
• Anthropologists established a research task
to deal with ethical issues
• Forced anthropologists to create ethical
guidelines (AAA Guidelines in the 90s)
Issues concerning anthropologists
40 years ago
• Responsibility of anthropologists towards
the people they study
• The complicit role that anthropology played
in the domination and exploitation of
peoples
Today
• Accountability
• Accountable: Answerable, being required to answer for
one's actions. Sometimes the term "accountable" is
used with a moral connotation ("normatively" )
meaning morally required to answer for one's actions
without specifying to whom one is accountable. More
often "accountable" is used descriptively to describe
the sociological fact that a person or organization in
question is required to answer to a particular party by
some rules or organizational structure (Oxford
dictionary).
Other ethical issues facing
anthropologists
• Issues of globalization and human rights (“an
arena for intensive contact with politically
imposed human tragedy”) ---How do we deal
with the implications of globalization in
ethnographic research?
• Issues of cultural property--- Who has the right
to own cultural property; objects, stories,
ethnographic materials (writings,photos, etc.).
• Issues of the anthropology of the future-Challenges of the internet.
What do we learn from these two
controversies?
concern for the dignity and welfare of people and groups
with whom we live, work and study.
suspicious of potentially hidden government research
agendas with negative implications for people: Bourgois
open about research goals: to informants and institutions to
insure continuation of research
dedication to an intellectually and institutionally viable
profession
sharing information with the public
***
Do you agree with Bourgois that this
guideline is contradictory to the actual
research contingencies?
***
Do you think that this code of ethics could be
a continuation of a Western centered
discourse prevalent in anthropology
throughout its history or not?
***
What are the contradictions between these
ethical guidelines and our moral imperatives
then?
***
Why should we take into consideration
unequal power relations?
***
Can we reconcile the contradictions between
social responsibility and the commitment of
anthropology to institutional accountability?
***
What does Bourgois mean when he asserts that
our studies among the poor and powerless
could contribute to their empowerment?
Summary of guidelines
Maintain your primary responsibility to the persons you
are studying
Obtaining clear consent from informants for the
collection of information (some of which is going to be
sensitive)
Become aware that your presence will increase the
dependency of he community on outside forces
Keep in mind your responsibility to contribute in some
positive way to the community you are studying
Keep promises: to insure future access to the field