Paper short abstract:

This paper explores ethics and consent in the context of a 'critical ethnographic' study of elite philanthropy in Brazil and the UK. It examines the ethics of gaining access to exclusive elite fieldsites, and of consent to the analysis of research data on elite experience gathered in these sites.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores issues of ethics and consent in ethnographic research among elites, with reference to on-going study on philanthropy in Brazil and the UK. It examines how these issues complicate the objectives of a 'critical ethnography', concerned with the ways in which elite experience and worldviews lead to the design of the 'philanthrocapitalist' project, whose benevolent objectives ultimately serve to conceal the unequal social and economic structures on which elite power, privilege and influence depend. The collection of much research material for this study has been dependent on gaining access to exclusive elite spaces, particularly 'donor education' programmes and philanthropic 'learning journeys', where wealthy philanthropists share and discuss their activities amongst elite peers. Entry to these spaces has required the building of close relationships of trust, and has often been dependent on a blurring of my own academic and personal identities. In these spaces, discussion goes beyond the operational aspects of philanthropy, encompassing themes of elite family dynamics, inheritance, family business succession, wealth and money. These themes, and the ways in which they intersect with the design of philanthropic practice, are central to my research. But they are also deeply sensitive, and the obtaining of informed consent to use data gathered on them throws up complex ethical questions. These concerns are further complicated by the growing 'impact agenda' for anthropological research, accompanied - in the case of my project - by emerging interest among research participants on the reflexive possibilities offered by my enquiry into their activities.