Raitio, Kaisa
- Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Abstract
In much discourse about academia in the Nordic countries, the role of the academic is revered as objective, neutral and disengaged. Getting involving in issues of so-cial justice or Indigenous rights claims is considered inappropriately political, risks making researchers subjective, and is thought to lie outside of the scope of aca-demic activity. In this paper, we argue that research must necessarily be reflexive, participatory and collaborative if, as non-Indigenous researchers, we are to engage with the colonial relations that have historically structured, and in many cases con-tinue to structure, relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous socie-ties. We use illustrations from our own research experiences to demonstrate how positivist assumptions, and a continuing denial of colonial injustices, prevail in the Nordics. We discuss the kinds of ethical dilemmas this produces for academics en-gaged in critical research, not only in relation to Indigenous communities, but also in relation to other non-Indigenous participants in the research process.
Published in
Sámi Dutkan - Samiska Studier - Sami Studies
2016, number: 7, pages: 117-136
Title: Ethics in indigenous research : past experiences - future challenges
Publisher: Vaartoe - Centre for Sami Research (CeSam)
SLU Authors
UKÄ Subject classification
Political Science (Excluding Peace and Conflict Studies)
Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified
Publication identifier
- ISBN: 978-91-7601-457-8
Permanent link to this page (URI)
https://res.slu.se/id/publ/81261