What are the Ethics of Development Studies?

摘要

Development studies is an ethically complex field of enquiry. Consider for example the following: Development studies has an ethical or normative point of departure - it seeks change or to 'do good', thus it intervenes in the lives of others often claiming to know what is good for 'the Other'. Development studies involves tuork uuith research participants at completely different levels of social/economic/political/cultural powerto the researcher; Development studies addresses sensitive issues - war,corruption, inequality, HIV/RIDS, poverty generally, to name but a few. Development studies is cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary - so whose ethics count? Do researchers give preference to universal principles (even if concepts such as the primacy ofthe individual are 'alien' concepts in the context in which they are working) or to local principles (even if contradictory to researcher's personal notions of social justice or equality)?