tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993639877737195356.post4295330973020997335..comments2024-02-09T07:05:16.357-08:00Comments on Charles Menzies. Faculty Member at UBC: Anthropology in the Pandemic Charles Menzieshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05374753336690275908noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993639877737195356.post-6314022269658793072020-04-20T06:15:22.998-07:002020-04-20T06:15:22.998-07:00One additional thought here - the comment's au...One additional thought here - the comment's author also assumes that anthropological research must necessarily involve an outsider traveling to an isolate community and imposing research upon that community. Clearly, there are (and especially were) anthropologies like that. But times have changed and a lot more people do research where they live, in their own communities, and do not feel the need to engage in cultural voyeurism. Charles Menzieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05374753336690275908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3993639877737195356.post-1319702801237730362020-04-20T06:10:21.170-07:002020-04-20T06:10:21.170-07:00"The onus is on the researcher to demonstrate..."The onus is on the researcher to demonstrate that they can work within the provincially imposed public health restrictions. From the point of view of ethics, it is necessary to demonstrate that the community is willing to accept the risks of having non-residents visit the community and that the risks to the potential participants and to the researchers themselves are merited by the timeliness and academic /scientific merits of the research now."<br /><br />I received the above unsolicited comment. A good lot of which I would agree with (and most anthropologists would to: that a community is willing to be researched & accept those associated risks. However, one clear ideological notion is this one about the "scientific merits of research." Anthropologists, especially those of us who do not do more quantitative' research are always being called out for lacking 'scientific' merit, even in the best of times. Many anthropologists anguish over 'making their work meaningful.' What the pandemic response is showing is the rise of a kind of managerialism in triumph, acting with impunity to define what is 'real' or 'worthwhile' research, what counts, what doesn't. Nothing has really changed in this, but now those in positions of control are acting without pretence.Charles Menzieshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05374753336690275908noreply@blogger.com