Research ethics in the Kalahari: issues, contradictions and concerns

The effects of ethical clearance or institutional review board practices are discussed in relation to the experiences of academic field researchers on the one hand and indigenous research participants and/or co-generators of knowledge on the other. Ethical procedures such as protection (do no harm), control (micromanaging methods) and exploitation (taking ownership) are discussed in relation to researcher experiences in southern Africa. Researcher–researched relations, researcher and subject alienation, ethics creep and the clash of ontologies are examined. Some tentative solutions are proposed.