Paper short abstract:

This paper will explore the complexities of ethical conduct in collaborative research and how a personal commitment to social justice and transformative action played a role in my decision to withdraw from a collaborative project that would have created positive change in the community where I work.

Paper long abstract:

Anthropologists have long emphasized the importance of collaboration as a means of creating more meaningful inquiry and as a way of addressing the political and social inequities inherent in the research endeavour. Participatory Action Research and other community-based models seek to democratize the creation of knowledge and work to dismantle the hierarchy that exists between the academy and community members. Despite the obvious benefits, negotiating the ethics of collaborative research can be exceedingly complex. Power relations are dynamic and must be negotiated throughout the research process. Differing expectations can create confusion about responsibility, and diverse understandings of what collaboration means can complicate partnerships. Based on ethnographic research conducted in southern Ontario in 2016, this paper will explore the complexities of ethical conduct in collaborative research and how my personal commitment to social justice and transformative action played a role in my decision to withdraw from a collaborative project that would have created positive change in the community with whom I work.