The praxis of an Indigenous Fijian researcher who is both an insider/outsider offers some valuable lessons for ethnographic work. This paper introduces ‘cultural discernment’ as a concept used to ensure that the research process is culturally ethical within the research setting. An insider will always require a sense of cultural discernment, recognising that actions taken have implications that are critical and remain with the researcher for life. The paper contextualises the concept of cultural discernment in relation to Fijian epistemology. Although there are risks within any research project with regard to ethics processes and the conduct of research, this paper will illustrate how Western paradigms associated with ‘expert knowledge’ and the ‘lay knowledges’ of an Indigenous population group produce competing understandings about ethical practice. The paper draws on a doctoral research project exploring the cultural conceptualisation of health and well-being, conducted in Fiji and New Zealand. The research process and steps carried out in this study ensured those actions were culturally appropriate and ethically sound from an Indigenous Fijian perspective.
cultural discernment, ethnography, Indigenous epistemology, Indigenous research ethics, insider/outsider research
Featured Resources
Simone Athayde, Jose Silva-Lugo, Marianne Schmink, Aturi Kaiabi, Michael Heckenberger
2017 | South America
Sustainability science focuses on generating and applying knowledge to environmentally sound human development around the world. It requires working toward greater integration of different types of knowledge, ways of knowing, and between academy and society. We contribute to the development of approaches for learning from indigenous knowledge, through enhanced understanding…
Hanna Guttorm, Lea Kantonen, Britt Kramvig, Aili Pyhälä
2021 | Europe
In this chapter we want to bring Indigenous ontologies and ways of knowing into the practices of decolonized research-storying. One implication about that is bringing Eana, Earth in North Sámi, as a narrator into the text. This text is a collaborative endeavour, where we write about and with our encountering…
Olivia E.T. Yates, Shiloh Groot, Sam Manuela, Andreas Neef
2023 | Aotearoa New Zealand
Background and Aims: Many Pacific people are considering cross‐border mobility in response to the climate crisis, despite exclusion from international protection frameworks. The ‘Migration with dignity’ concept facilitates immigration within existing laws but without host government support. Through the metaphor of Pacific navigation, we explore the role of dignity in…
Freya Higgins-Desbiolles
2022 | Australia
Recent work in development studies asked: “whatever happened to the idea of imperialism?”This article will analyse the ongoingness of imperialism in order to illuminate sources of injusticeand inequity in tourism. It will also delve into historical understandings of the capacities oftourism in a time when revolutionary, decolonising leadership looked to…
Featured Resources
Simone Athayde, Jose Silva-Lugo, Marianne Schmink, Aturi Kaiabi, Michael Heckenberger
2017 | South America
Sustainability science focuses on generating and applying knowledge to environmentally sound human development around the world. It requires working toward greater integration of different types of knowledge, ways of knowing, and between academy and society. We contribute to the development of approaches for learning from indigenous knowledge, through enhanced understanding…
Hanna Guttorm, Lea Kantonen, Britt Kramvig, Aili Pyhälä
2021 | Europe
In this chapter we want to bring Indigenous ontologies and ways of knowing into the practices of decolonized research-storying. One implication about that is bringing Eana, Earth in North Sámi, as a narrator into the text. This text is a collaborative endeavour, where we write about and with our encountering…
Olivia E.T. Yates, Shiloh Groot, Sam Manuela, Andreas Neef
2023 | Aotearoa New Zealand
Background and Aims: Many Pacific people are considering cross‐border mobility in response to the climate crisis, despite exclusion from international protection frameworks. The ‘Migration with dignity’ concept facilitates immigration within existing laws but without host government support. Through the metaphor of Pacific navigation, we explore the role of dignity in…
Freya Higgins-Desbiolles
2022 | Australia
Recent work in development studies asked: “whatever happened to the idea of imperialism?”This article will analyse the ongoingness of imperialism in order to illuminate sources of injusticeand inequity in tourism. It will also delve into historical understandings of the capacities oftourism in a time when revolutionary, decolonising leadership looked to…