6. be responsible for the design, metllOdology and execution of tile research. 7. plan tlle research to ..... It is important to note also that 'works made for hire' have a special status. Tins is particularly .... 9 See http://lang uagesp:;:ak. wordpress.
Communities. ethics and rights in language documentation
Communities, ethics and rights in language documentation Peter K. Austin
35
2. Ethics
Etlncs in linguistic research is generally a matter of applied etlncs, that is, what etlncal principles apply when we interact Witll otller people. We can distinguish tins from tlle tlleoretical study of etlncs tlmt is typically tile domain of plnlosophers (see Dwyer 2006 on tlns distinction).
1.
a person recorded in a digital audio file telling a story has copyright over tlle file TIF
An important aspect of applied etlncs is the need to identify tlle interested parties (sometimes also called 'stakeholders'). Interested parties are the people tlmt have an interest in and are counected Witll what we are doing. So, for example, in a project based at a Urriversity like SOAS, tllat would include staff and students, tlle wider research commurrity (all the people who are doing research), people who are called 'research subjects' (tlle people tlmt our research project works with, records material from and studies tlleir language Witll), research funders (including govemment and private funders, such as Arcadia), society in general, including govermnent bodies, and possibly otllers. We need to tlrink about our etlncal stance in relation to all these interested parties.
2.
if I publish my language documentation analysis in a book tlle publisher has copyright TIF
For converrience we can divide tlle discussion into general etlncal principles and principles tllat are specific to linguistic research (see also Tlneberger & Musgrave 2007).
3.
materials tlmt I put on the intemet are not copyright and can be freely copied T IF
2.1 General ethical principles
1. Introduction 1
TIns chapter is about tlle general topic of cOIrunurrities. etlncs and rights as they relate to language documentation, especially in tlle context of endangered languages. Consider tlle following statements and whetller you tlnnk tlley are True or False:
4.
as a member or good friend of a speaker cOIrunurrity, I know how tlle cOIrunurrity works and so I don't need to be concemed about etlrics TIF
If you are a linguistics student, it is quite possible tlmt tllese statements relate to issues tlmt you have never seen, or even tllought about, before. These are, however, matters tlmt are very important for our researcl~ particularly because in our documentary linguistic research we are working closely together Witll commurrities. But they are topics that many linguists do not know very much about or, until recently, Imve thought much about.
I For COllunents on an earlier draft of this chapter I am grateful to David Nathan; I alone am responsible for errors or omissions. Peter K. Austin 2010. Communities, ethics and rights in language documentation. In Peter K. Austin (cd.) Langllage Documentation and Description, Va!7, 34M54. London: SOAS.
There may be general ethical principles like 'do not be evil' or 'do good things' that we lrright adopt for our whole lives and tllat are not just restricted to linguistic research. Witllin linguistics itself, there are general principles tlmt we would wish to apply. For example, Wilkins (2000: I) argues tlmt 'in fragile, embattled, nrinority indigenous cOImnurrities, good intentions are not sufficient for good and useful results, and we must be self-reflective and selfcritical about the sort of practices we engage in that unwittingly will exacerbate rather tlmn alleviate tlle problem'. Grinevald (2004) has also suggested a maxim something like 'do not document a language if doing so would harm the speakers' (Grinevald (2004:60) states tins as 'sometinles no fieldwork on an endangered language is better than some'). Matras (2005:227) is critical of what he calls 'salvation linguists' who take it upon tllemselves to 'save' languages, regardless of speaker cOIrunurrity opirrions. One basic etlncal principle for research is 'do not do anytlnng tlmt forces somebody to do tlnngs'. Tlmt is, we should not force people to do anytlnng against their will. The term for tlns in discussions of etlncs is 'infonned consent' (see 2.4 below); it means that a person gives explicit consent to be involved in a research project or interaction, and the researcher must infonn them about what is involved in such activity, and what the consequences of
Communities, ethics and rights in language docllmentation
participation might be. They should also undetStand that tlley can witlldraw their participation at any time. Note that children cannot give infonned consent; it must be obtained from parents or guardians.
UnivetSities and research centres often have statements of etltics that apply to everyone associated with tllCm. For example, at SOAS researchetS must cOlmuit to tile statement of etltics wltich requires tllem to:
A second basic principle might be 'do not do tlrings tllat will make people regret working witll you'. Tlris will be important when discussing and recording sensitive infonnation such as political discussions or stories about human relationslrips. Reciprocity is anotller ftmdamental principle tllat is generally adopted: tlle researcher should contribute to tlle community in some way in exchange for tlle contributions tllat community membetS make to the research project. The form of such reciprocity, and how it is negotiated, is also a complex issue and will require careful analysis and undetStanding, paying attention to differences between the values of the researcher and tllOse of the research participants (see Dobrin 2005 and section 7 below). Attention to differences in local culture and cormnunity dynamics and our place in tllOse dynrunics should also be part of our general ctlrical approach. This will include respecting otl,er people's ways of living and keeping an open nrind (and being self-reflective about our own beliefs and behavioutS). There is no list of rules to follow here, ratller tlle researcher will need to have sensitivity to different situations and different variants and to adopt general principles like being sensitive, being reciprocal and not forcing people to do tllings tlley do not wish to do in working together with us2
2,2 Specific ethical principles
Many univetSities and other orgrurizations, such as professional bodies, have an explicit statement of etltics (also called a 'code of etltics') that membetS are e"'Pected to follow. For example, in 2009 tlle Linguistic Society of America (LSA) adopted a professional code of etlrics (see Web links below). Other bodies, such as tlle Australian Linguistics Society (ALS) or tlle American Antlrropological Association (AAA) have had such codes for much longer. Increasingly, local orgrurisations like cultural centres or indigenous nongovernment organizations (NGOs) have developed specific etltical statements or rules relating to the conduct of research. An example is the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) wltich has formulated 'Guidelines for Etllical Research in Indigenous Studies'. It is incumbent on researchetS to be aware of tllese codes of etltics and have some undetStanding of tllem.
Nathan (2010, section 2) argues that a general ethical principle should be
