Politics and Pitfalls of Japan Ethnography

Reflexivity, Responsibility, and Anthropological Ethics

Nonfiction, History, Asian, Japan, Civilization, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Politics and Pitfalls of Japan Ethnography by , Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: ISBN: 9781317967576
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: October 18, 2013
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author:
ISBN: 9781317967576
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: October 18, 2013
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

Four anthropologists, Elise Edwards, Ann Elise Lewallen, Bridget Love and Tomomi Yamaguchi, draw on their fieldwork experiences in Japan to demonstrate collectively the inadequacy of both the Code of Ethics developed by the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and the dictates of Institutional Review Boards (IRB) when dealing with messy human realities. The four candidly and critically explore the existential dilemmas they were forced to confront with respect to this inadequacy, for the AAA’s code and IRBs consider neither the vulnerability and powerlessness of ethnographers nor the wholly unethical (and even criminal) deportment of some informants. As Jennifer Robertson points out in her Introduction, whereas the AAA’s Code tends to perpetuate the stereotype of more advantaged fieldworkers studying less advantaged peoples, IRBs appear to protect their home institutions (from possible litigation) rather than living and breathing people whose lives are often ethically compromised irrespective of the presence of an ethnographer. In her commentary, Sabine Frühstück, who incurred ample experience with ethical dilemmas in the course of her pathbreaking ethnographic research on Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, situates the four articles in a broader theoretical context, and emphasizes the link between political engagement and ethnographic accuracy.

This book was previously published as a special issue of Critical Asian Studies.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Four anthropologists, Elise Edwards, Ann Elise Lewallen, Bridget Love and Tomomi Yamaguchi, draw on their fieldwork experiences in Japan to demonstrate collectively the inadequacy of both the Code of Ethics developed by the American Anthropological Association (AAA) and the dictates of Institutional Review Boards (IRB) when dealing with messy human realities. The four candidly and critically explore the existential dilemmas they were forced to confront with respect to this inadequacy, for the AAA’s code and IRBs consider neither the vulnerability and powerlessness of ethnographers nor the wholly unethical (and even criminal) deportment of some informants. As Jennifer Robertson points out in her Introduction, whereas the AAA’s Code tends to perpetuate the stereotype of more advantaged fieldworkers studying less advantaged peoples, IRBs appear to protect their home institutions (from possible litigation) rather than living and breathing people whose lives are often ethically compromised irrespective of the presence of an ethnographer. In her commentary, Sabine Frühstück, who incurred ample experience with ethical dilemmas in the course of her pathbreaking ethnographic research on Japan’s Self-Defense Forces, situates the four articles in a broader theoretical context, and emphasizes the link between political engagement and ethnographic accuracy.

This book was previously published as a special issue of Critical Asian Studies.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Spatializing Culture by
Cover of the book Experiencing Narrative Worlds by
Cover of the book Developments in Object Relations by
Cover of the book Managing the Historic Rural Landscape by
Cover of the book The Politics of Aid to Burma by
Cover of the book The Primordial Violence by
Cover of the book Flora Of Eastern Saudi Arabia by
Cover of the book Racial, Ethnic, and Homophobic Violence by
Cover of the book The Work of Psychoanalysts in the Public Health Sector by
Cover of the book The Politics of Civic Space in Asia by
Cover of the book Shakespeare’s Asian Journeys by
Cover of the book The Power in the People by
Cover of the book Volume 8, Tome III: Kierkegaard's International Reception – The Near East, Asia, Australia and the Americas by
Cover of the book Routledge Revivals: The Song Celestial or Bhagavad-Gita (1906) by
Cover of the book Godfrey of Bouillon by
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy