ETHICS IN AN ETHNOGRAPHIC CONTEXT OF PARTICIPANT DISTRUST AND SOCIALLY DESIRABLE RESPONSE PATTERNS

In this proceeding we reflect on some of the ethical challenges encountered while conducting ethnographic fieldwork on the subject of (perceived) “fracture lines” in multicultural society in Flanders/Belgium, among the “Muslim” population in two former mining cities in Flemish Limburg. The increasingly stern and “bureaucratic” scheme of ethical approval processes within academic instances has raised concerns in many fieldworkers. Social and behavioral scientists in particular have struggled with the question of consent forms, which remains both delicate and difficult to pursue, as it often inhibits the spontaneity of interactions that is so essential to fieldwork, and can even possibly jeopardise collaborations with people who do not want to disclose their personal information on paper under any circumstances. The key issue examined in this paper is the difficulty of pursuing data-quality on a politicised/sensitive research topic and/or among participants generally considered difficult to reach: how do we obtain sincere, honest fieldwork impressions and testimonies in a context of considerable distrust and perceived social desirability? What is good ethical practice here, and which foundations and/or procedures allow us to truly ensure it?status: Published onlin

Een herbeschouwing van het West-Europese multiculturele debat in een “post-truth” context

This article presents the findings of a qualitative literature review on the central questions in the Western-European “multicultural debate”, with specific regard for the Belgian region. The multicultural debate is defined as the public discussion on problems that are rightly or wrongly linked to the fact of living together in a culturally diverse context. The four key domains that are identified in this debate are the following: (im)migration, integration, discrimination/racism and the place of religion/Islam. This article attempts to offer an overview of the answers provided by the scientific literature within each of these domains. The main conclusion is that although there is undeniably a large volume of (raw) data available, especially with regard to migration and integration, the central questions in this debate are only being answered with sound empirical findings to a very limited extent. This makes it more difficult to reach a scientific consensus on these questions. Meanwhile, many have pointed out the series of political and societal shifts that took place in several western countries as a new “post-truth” era in which truth, facts and rationality no longer matter. As these developments have once again placed diversity and multicultural issues at the centre of public discourses and the collective imaginary, possible implications of the findings of this study in this context are discussed. Dit artikel presenteert de bevindingen van een kwalitatieve literatuurstudie over de centrale vraagstukken in het West-Europese “multiculturele debat”, met bijzondere aandacht voor de Belgische regio. Het multiculturele debat wordt gedefinieerd als de publieke discussie over de problemen die terecht of onterecht gelinkt worden aan het samen-leven in een cultureel diverse context. De vier sleuteldomeinen die in dit debat geïdentificeerd worden zijn: (im)migratie, integratie, discriminatie/racisme en de plaats van religie/de Islam. Dit artikel tracht een overzicht te bieden van de antwoorden die de wetenschappelijke literatuur biedt binnen elk van deze domeinen. De voornaamste conclusie is dat hoewel er onmiskenbaar een grote hoeveelheid aan (ruwe) data beschikbaar is, vooral wat betreft migratie en integratie, de centrale vraagstukken in dit debat slechts in zeer beperkte mate beantwoord worden op basis van gefundeerde empirische bevindingen. Dit bemoeilijkt het bereiken van een wetenschappelijke consensus hieromtrent. Omdat er zich ondertussen in een hele reeks westerse landen politiek-maatschappelijke kenteringen voltrokken die voor velen wijzen op een nieuw “post-truth” tijdperk waarin waarheid, feiten en rationaliteit er niet langer toe doen, en omdat diversiteits- en multiculturele kwesties door deze ontwikkelingen weer centraal worden geplaatst in het publieke discours en in de collectieve beeldvorming, worden de mogelijke implicaties van de bevindingen van deze studie in deze context besproken.status: publishe

Have We Entered a Post-Truth Era in the “Multicultural” Debate? On the Challenges in the Scientific Literature Surrounding Diversity and Multiculturalism. Presented at the ECQI 2019 – 3rd European Congress of Qualitative Inquiry, Edinburgh, 12 Jan 2019-15 Jan 2019.

In the wake of the unexpected political events witnessed over the course of the past two years, many people have ventured that we are now living in a “post-truth” era . This brought scientists together at a conference at MIT in August 2017 , to discuss the following central concern: is it true that facts, rationality and knowledge no longer matter in public discourse – or matter much less than emotions and opinions? This paper seeks to address this question in the multidisciplinary field of diversity-related studies in Western Europe, as the latter have been at the centre of political discourse and public debates for years. After over 30 years of research, the scientific literature remains very divided on these issues, not only in ontological, epistemological, ideological, but also in empirical terms. In the first section of this paper, we illustrate how this far-reaching academic dissensus manifests itself, by overviewing the literature on the “multicultural” debate. We thus identify concrete problems with respect to this academic division. In the second section of this paper, we lay out what we identify as the underlying causes for this persistent status quo. We find that, although the humanities have yielded an extensive literature on the multicultural question, the most certain conclusion to be drawn remains that we are currently not able to provide impartial, accurate, and applicable answers to the questions that have been at the centre of the debate: because in the absence of sufficient empirical evidence, we have been debating extremely difficult, sensitive and increasingly urgent issues, based largely on theorising. The current status quo invites us to consider that the manner in which we have been conducting research may not sufficiently have enabled us to get at the “truth”, and to understand what is at stake. This outcome is further consistent with the epistemological context within the social sciences and humanities, particularly the current frame of strict interpretivism and relativism that are at risk to dismiss the notion of objective truth altogether. Based on the observations presented in this paper, we infer that it is indeed possible that facts do not matter to people anymore, but it is misleading to simply assert that we have entered a “post-truth” era. As long as we fail to provide genuine answers to widespread concerns about multicultural society, it is understandable that people just believe what they prefer to believe, whether we condemn this or not. Providing a solid diagnosis of the problems of multiculturalism is therefore a most urgent and imperative step in this debate. In light of the societal challenges we are facing, our primary goal is to delineate the identified issues and their implications as clearly and straightforwardly as possible. This can contribute to inspire a thorough academic reflection, strengthen and/or reaffirm the inherent motivation of academics to meaningfully contribute to society.status: publishe

Doctoral Efficiency: Summary of the Survey Results & Recommendations

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