Difficult subjects: A reflection on ethics in social research
Amir Massoumian looks into the ethics of researching 'difficult' subjects in anthropology.
Difficult subjects: A reflection on ethics in social research
16 Jan 2025, 12:00 – 13:00
The rise of research on nationalist groups has complicated the ethical procedures of ethnographic inquiry. Specifically, it has brought forth new questions around the power dynamics between researcher and researched, scholar-informant solidarity, risks involved during fieldwork and writing about those with whom one's moral and political ideals may be in direct opposition to.
This seminar will engage with the history of ethics in anthropology, Amir's own experiences of ethnography, and the various boundaries and complications that such research entails to assist in the discussion of a potential emergence of ethical considerations.
This event will be particularly useful for those interested in social science, anthropology, ethics, fieldwork, nationalism, and the far right.
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Davide Cantelli via Unsplash.
Amir Massoumian
Research Fellow
Department of Anthropology and Sociology, SOAS
His doctoral research titled ‘Outsider Epistemologies’ focused on far-right supporters in London reflecting on the inquiry of what far-right ideology offers in terms of making meaning in relation to his participants’ diverse range of histories, lived experiences, and subjectivities.
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