Coercion or collaboration? The ethics of participation

During my recent teaching sessions on the Masters in Rural Development we had a useful discussion on ethics and participation. This discussion covered issues related to local rural development and the global context and obviously there is considerable similarities and overlap wherever one is dealing with marginalised groups. Topics included the need for transparency at the outset on the goal of the participatory process, what are the expected benefits and who will benefit, what are the implications and responsibilities that will fall on those who participate. A great deal of the discussion focused on data collection and local knowledge, ownership and communication of such information and knowledge. The dangers of 'plagiarism' and using local knowledge and passing it off as your own. The widespread use of photographs and publication without consent was another interesting topic as were other forms of exploitation or deception. At the end of the session we had covered a lot of ground on issues to be addressed if a participatory process is to avoid coercion, cooption and deception.

My earlier posting on the PEER participatory approach has a useful publication on the ethics of participatory approaches, click here for more information.

If anyone is aware of local organisations that have produced ethical guidelines for participatory approaches please do let us know.