Beyond ethical imperatives in South African anthropology

Morally Repugnant and Unlikeable Subjects

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2186705
AutoresIlana Van Wyk (0000-0002-7976-0074, University of Cape Town, autor de correspondencia)
Año2013
Volumen36
Número1-2
Páginas68-79
Fecha de publicación2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnthropology Southern Africa (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2332-3264 • E-ISSN: 2332-3256
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23323256.2013.11500044
OpenAlexW4243153702
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas74

In this article, I argue that anthropologists' dislike of their subjects in the field poses both epistemological and ethical questions that go beyond concerns about harming or exploiting those we study, about maintaining human relationships, or about the self-reflexivity and competence of individual anthropologists. While dislike threatens the very basis of our claims to know and to engage in proper ethical relationships with those we study, I argue that acknowledged and interrogated, dislike need not prevent research among ‘unlikeable’ or morally ‘repugnant’ Others. Indeed, as South African anthropologists move away from theoretical concerns with structure, the question of dislike could become more common

Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Reflexivity · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · Feminist Epistemology and Gender Studies · Philosophy · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics