Power, Ethics, and Human Rights: Studies of Refugee Research and Action

(Paperback)

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Refugees experience some of the most visible manifestations of human rights abuses in the world - and raise difficult issues for researchers and policymakers alike. This is an investigation of a broad range of complexities that arise as ethnographers work with refugee populations from different geographical areas in research, policy formation, and legal and social assistance. The contributors draw on their intensive fieldwork to explore issues surrounding power and disempowerment between researcher and subject; dilemmas over the protection of research informants; and the rights and actions of refugees in representing themselves and their cultures in advocacy and policy arenas. These explorations seek to revitalize, in detail drawn from case studies, theoretical debates on anthropology and ethnographic research, while suggesting new, empowering approaches to applied work and ethnographic study. The contributors include Ruth M. Krulfeld, Lucia Ann McSpadden, Greta Uehling, and Faith R. Warner.

Reviews

Krulfeld and MacDonald have edited a book of excellent chapters by well-respected anthropologists in refugee studies. The strong focus on community participation and empowerment in refugee research questions the ethics of researchers who study or create programs for about refugees without their input. Social science researchers, clinicians, program evaluators and their students will find the book a very good read. Rich and moving descriptive data are integrated with the authors' own experiences, enlightening readers to personal and ethical dilemmas in refugee work, yet maintaining a scholarly base... -- Juliene G. Lipson, University of California, San Francisco
This volume has great relevance both to anthropologists and to other social scientists. Its value is not restricted to refugee research and praxis, but encompasses the work with small communities and minority groups generally. The underlying themes of human rights and power relations are an integral part of all ethical considerations in ethnographic research. I recommend this book for all researchers working with refugees and other forcibly displaced individuals as well as for students of anthropological and ethnographical sciences. -- Dawn Chatty, Refugee Studies Programme, University of Oxford * Journal Of Refugee Studies *

Krulfeld and MacDonald have edited a book of excellent chapters by well-respected anthropologists in refugee studies. The strong focus on community participation and empowerment in refugee research questions the ethics of researchers who study or create programs for about refugees without their input. Social science researchers, clinicians, program evaluators and their students will find the book a very good read. Rich
and moving descriptive data are integrated with the authors' own experiences, enlightening readers to personal and ethical dilemmas in refugee work, yet maintaining a scholarly base.

Author Bio

Ruth M. Krulfeld is professor of anthropology and international affairs at the George Washington University. Jeffery L. MacDonald is director of program development at the International Refugee Center of Oregon (IRCO) and is president of the society for the Anthropology of Consciousness, a section of the American Anthropological Association.