Fieldwork, Politics and Ethics
Fieldwork, Politics and Ethics

Summary/Abstract: In this study, the author reflects on his personal experiences and dilemma, when in 2000 an analyst from the Missing in Action Division of the United States Department of Defence asked him to identify some photos taken during the 1980-s in Vietnam. Although the author refused this request at first, he later realized that he would in fact have to identify himself on the photos and agreed to cooperate. The department wanted to make sure that the person in question was not a lost American officer previously detained in a “re-education camp”. The mere fact of this request shocked the author, making him aware of the ideological, political and ethical hazards of field research in Vietnam and the dangers generally inherent in anthropological fieldwork. His article investigates these problems.

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