Title Ethics in the field : how conducting post-genocide research can mean "rape" is an acceptable interview topic / Federica Guglielmo, Nathan Emmerich

Published London : SAGE Publications Ltd, 2017

Online access available from: Sage Research Methods Cases    View Resource Record

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Description 1 online resource Series SAGE Research Methods. Cases SAGE Research Methods. Cases Summary This case draws on my experience of conducting anthropological research in Rwanda in 2012, following the genocidal conflict that took place in 1994. It is based on an episode that profoundly affected my understanding of social vulnerability and the meaning it may acquire in the context of conducting fieldwork. Pierre, one of my research collaborators, suggested that I open an interview with a genocide survivor by asking her "about the time that she was raped." From my perspective, such advice could have introduced a source of "unnecessary emotional distress" ethics boards warn against. Despite my misgivings, this question was instrumental in providing our interviewee, Odette, a "safe space" in which she could speak about her experience of the 1994 genocide, the loss of her family, and the ostracism that she had subsequently faced within the community.The interaction between Pierre, Odette, and myself resulted in the nuanced meaning of "ethical conduct," challenging the basic, implicit, and unspoken assumptions I, and the dominant "research ethics" discourses, have about fieldwork practice. This encounter brings attention on the contextual matrix of social vulnerability and on the risks of imposing an eticthat is, a culturally externalperspective on what the researcher considers ethical problems. "Ethics" and "morality," in fact, are emic conceptsintrinsic to cultural systemsthat deserve the same attention and reflection as other, more evident, socio-cultural determinants Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Description based on XML content Subject Genocide -- Rwanda -- History -- 20th century -- Case studies. SUBJECT Rwanda -- Ethnic relations http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008116782 -- Case studies. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001484 Rwanda -- History -- Civil War, 1994 -- Atrocities http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2008116783 -- Case studies. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh99001484 Genre/Form Case studies. History. Case studies. Form Electronic book Author Emmerich, Nathan, author ISBN 1526404982 9781526404985 (ebook)

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