Anthropologists who talk about ethics generally mean the code of practice drafted by a professional association for implementation by its members. As this book convincingly shows, such a conception is far too narrow. A more radical approach is to recognize that moral judgments are made at every juncture of scientific practice and they require a negotiation of responsibility with all stakeholders in the research enterprise.Embedding Ethics questions why ethics have been divorced from scientific expertise. Invoking different disciplinary practices from biological, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic anthropology, contributors show how ethics should be resituated at the heart of, rather than exterior to, scientific activity. Positioning the researcher as a negotiator of significant truths rather than an adjudicator of a priori precepts enables contributors to relocate ethics in new sets of social and scientific relationships triggered by recent globalization processes - from new forms of intellectual and cultural ownership to accountability in governance, and the very ways in which people are studied. Case studies from ethnographic research, museum display, archaeological fieldwork and professional monitoring illustrate both best practice and potential pitfalls.This important book is an essential guide for all anthropologists who wish to be active contributors to the discussion on ethics and the ethical practice of their profession.

Also available in hardback, 9781845200466 GBP55.00 (March, 2005)

About the Author
Dr. Lynn Meskell is Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Columbia University.Professor Peter Pels is Professor in the Anthropology of Sub-Saharan Africa at the Universiteit Leiden, The Netherlands.


Book Information
ISBN 9781845200473
Author Lynn Meskell
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Berg Publishers
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g