Ethical
Issues
Should
one make public anthropological data which could be used by politicians, by
businessmen or others with ulterior motives to exploit the subjects of study; by
the military conducting counter-insurgency operations, by missionaries
intending to evangelicize, or by pothunters? How can
an anthropologist investigating religious cults discuss and publish what the
group considers secret knowledge?
Should funding agencies/firms for whom
anthropologists serve as consultants have exclusive rights to information
gathered? Should they have rights to edit an anthropologist’s work? What
stipulations for information access and the use of their data can researchers
negotiate for in their contracts with sources of funding?
During the 16th UGAT Conference held at
-
conference
protocol. (How to critique colleagues and question the validity of a research’s
methodology)
-
accountability
and responsibility of the researcher to:
a) protecting her/his respondents/subjects
of study and informing them of the implications of the research
b) to the interests of the
discipline of Anthropology, to fellow researchers, and to students of
anthropology,
c) to the funding agency.
-
keeping
track of the entry and research activities of foreigners.
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publications
by non-academics which affect popular perception of the anthropologists’
subjects of study. (e.g. antique dealers who publish book son antiquities which
are then used as references and also serve to raise the market value of the
artifacts, psuedo-ethnogra-phies.)
-
lack
of information and low awareness among anthropologists, researchers and the
general public on existing laws on cultural property and intellectual property,
as well as existing policies concerning museum work in the
-
the
need for assessment and evaluation of he validity and reliability of different
research methodologies and their ethical implications. (e.g. the Rapid Rural
Appraisal)
-
the
need for consistent editorial policy in the UGAT journal AGHAMTAO regarding
contributions, reviews, advertisements, etc.
It was recommended that UGAT should:
1. Convene an ethics committee to review particular
cases and to recommend guidelines. This
committee should review and assess relevant existing documents and laws with
the assistance of legal organizations and file legal complaints in specific
cases in order to test the laws and to set precedents. It should also assess
and evaluate the role of state agencies (e.g. the NCCA, the National Museum.
the UP Department of Anthropology) in the promotion of the discipline and in
addressing these concerns.
2. Remind moderators of conference sessions of
their important role in identifying key points, facilitating discussion, and
facilitating professional behavior.
3. See to it that when papers on particular ethnic
groups are presented in UGAT conferences, there be a native of the same group
serving as reactor or presenting a paper too.
4. Prepare sample research consultancy contracts to
help guide anthropologists in the process of negotiating contracts. Copies of
sample contracts and consultancy per diem rates should be kept on file for
reference of members.
5. Emphasize that anthropological researches should
be public records. It is unethical for any agency to have exclusive control of
information produces by fieldwork; these are the intellectual property of the
researcher and anthropologist as professional.
6. Encourage foreign anthropologists to be members
of UGAT.
7. Require that all researchers (both local and
foreign) should leave a copy of their thesis or research output at an
institution in the source community.
8. Facilitate more opportunities for exchange among
anthropologists in the form of colloquia, reviews of publications, etc.
9. Set editorial policy and produce a stylebook for
the journal Aghamtao.
10. Act as a clearinghouse for particular cases
that may be raised.
(Published in UGAT Newsletter Special Issue
1995 pages 3-5)