Title: BONES OF CONTENTION: Negotiating Anthropological Ethics within Fields of Ainu Refusal
Abstract: ABSTRACT ABSTRACT Contemporary anthropologists often confront a complex history of informant-researcher interactions preceding their own work, which, if left unaddressed, can effectively block access to host communities. In this article, I discuss the obstacles I faced in conducting ethnographic fieldwork with indigenous Ainu women in Hokkaido, Japan, to initiate a dialogue about ethnographic responsibility, researcher morality, and anthropological ethics as paths toward developing an engaged anthropology. During my field research, I was compelled to confront the research methods of my disciplinary predecessors, including the pilfering of human remains and burial accessories from communal gravesites and unconsented blood sampling. These methodologies exemplify "Colonial Studies," a science informed by Japan's imperialist projects. The collective memory of these research practices retains currency among contemporary Ainu political activists. Today these narratives are transmitted intergenerationally, resulting in suspicion and often contempt toward researchers. With these ethically dubious practices in mind, I consider recent developments in ethical guidelines for ethnographic research both in Japan and the United States, and compare these approaches with indigenous research protocols now mandated by several indigenous communities. Social scientists cannot claim primary authority as interpreters of socially marginal communities. In recent years, Ainu and other marginalized persons have begun earning advanced degrees and introducing community-sensitive approaches to research. Here I argue that anthropologists and researchers using the ethnographic method must develop research practices rooted in prior consultation, cooperation, and collaboration with local communities, and must introduce reciprocal processes with tangible benefit for local communities, if ethnographic work is to continue. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This article originated as a paper for a panel I co-organized with Tomomi Yamaguchi for the 2006 American Anthropological Association annual meetings: "Politics and Pitfalls of Japan Ethnography: Reflexivity, Responsibility and Anthropological Ethics." I would like to offer thanks to fellow panelists Elise Edwards, Bridget Love, and Tomomi Yamaguchi, and especially discussant Sabine Frühstuck, for valuable feedback. I am also indebted to panel chair Jennifer Robertson for insightful suggestions on the manuscript itself. Special thanks also to Tomek Bogdanowicz, Mark Hudson, Ishii Yoshiji, Matsumura Hirofumi, Ogawa Ryūichi, Ogawa Sanae, Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney, and Stewart Henry for their generosity in providing comments and additional information. All errors in interpretation are mine. Research for the article was made possible by grants from Fulbright-IIE; the Social Science Research Council; the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science; the University of Michigan Department of Anthropology; the University of Michigan Center for Japanese Studies; and the University of Michigan Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Please note that I choose to write my name in lower case.
Publication Year: 2007
Publication Date: 2007-12-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 12
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