International Journal of Conflict Engagement and Resolution

Article

Reflexivity, Responsibility and Reciprocity

Guiding Principles for Ethical Peace Research

Keywords ethics, peace research, peacebuilding practice, research methodology, reflexivity
Authors Angela J. Lederach
DOI
Author's information

Angela J. Lederach
Angela J. Lederach is a PhD student in Anthropology and Peace Studies at the University of Notre Dame. Her research interests include youth and community-based peacebuilding, gender, social and environmental justice, displacement and migration. She is currently conducting participatory research in Colombia alongside the Proceso Pacífico de Reconciliación e Integración de la Alta Montaña, a social movement comprised of campesinos (peasant farmers) who were forcibly displaced as a result of the armed conflict. Her research is specifically focused on the social-political, ecological, and ethical dimensions of retorno digno (dignified return) in rural Colombia.
  • Abstract

      The application of peace research to settings of violent conflict requires careful attention to the ethical dimensions of scholarship; yet, discussions about the ethics of peace research remain underdeveloped. This article addresses a critical gap in the literature, outlining a framework for ethical peace research broadly encompassed in three guiding principles: responsibility, reciprocity and reflexivity. The first section provides an overview of the ethics of peace action and research, introducing key contributions that practitioner-scholars have made to the ethics of peacebuilding. In the second section, I explore how the guiding principles of reflexivity, responsibility and reciprocity offer a flexible framework for engaging in everyday ethical research practices. I conclude with preliminary recommendations to encourage further conversation about the ethics of peace research, offering ideas for future action.

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