Bedenken gegen die "Frankfurter Erklärung" zur Ethik in der Ethnologie

Abstract

The "Frankfurter Declaration" on ethics in cultural anthropology has been voted for by an 'overwhelming majority' at a meeting of the members of the "Deutsche Gesellschaft für Völkerkunde (DGV)", which took place in October 2009 in Frankfurt am Main. The author, who has a few criticisms of the "Declaration", belonged to the minority of those present at the meeting who voted against it. The reasons for his opposition, which will be explained in detail in the article, are the following: (1) On the one hand the authors of the "Declaration" want to make it non-binding by stressing that the planning and carrying out of anthropological research are principally matters for individual responsibility. (2) On the other hand, all those members who voted for the "Declaration" are obliged to profess that individual dignity and responsibility take priority over collective interests. This expressly assumes an image of humanity which is very limited looked at cross-culturally because the individual is privileged as the main criterion of ethically motivated decisions. No reason is given for this Eurocentric attitude in a declaration
by cultural anthropologists. (3) To propose basic standards for ethically acceptable behaviour in doing ethnographic fieldwork and in publishing the information obtained in a declaration on ethics in cultural anthropology is, of course, welcome. But the assertion that these standards will unavoidably lead into contradictions and the impossibility of resolving this dilemma makes no sense. It can also be questioned whether these basic standards will prove compatible with the theory of cultural relativism.