This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by COY, P. G. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Shared Risks and Research Dilemmas on a Peace Brigades International Team in Sri Lanka

Kent State University

Peace Brigades International (PBI) is a nongovernmental organization that provides nonviolent protective accompaniment in situations of severe political violence for local activists under threat. PBI team members function as unarmed bodyguards, attempting to deter violence by their presence or to document it and raise the costs to the transgressors if the deterrence fails. Blending ethnographic research of PBI with simultaneous service on a PBI team in Sri Lanka created a host of ethical quandaries and dilemmas. This article explains and analyzes some of these problems, including the use of politically sensitive research material, participation in team meetings and team decisions with life-threatening consequences for others, the acceptance of a salary from the organization under study, and embracing or refusing risks as a participant observer/team member who had more than one agenda.

Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Vol. 30, No. 5, 575-606 (2001)
DOI: 10.1177/089124101129024277


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Mazzei and E. E. O'Brien You Got It, So When Do You Flaunt It?: Building Rapport, Intersectionality, and the Strategic Deployment of Gender in the Field Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, June 1, 2009; 38(3): 358 - 383. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. P. Brown The Immobile Mass: Movement Restrictions in the West Bank Social Legal Studies, December 1, 2004; 13(4): 501 - 521. [Abstract] [PDF]

				K. AVRUCH Notes Toward Ethnographies of Conflict and Violence Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, October 1, 2001; 30(5): 637 - 648. [Abstract] [PDF]