Anthropology and cultural conflict

Notes on a Balinese cockfight raised an issue for me that I often wonder about. How does a researcher deal with documenting activities that they might find unethical? For myself, I found the details of the cockfights stomach churning. I would have been hard pressed to watch the events described with anything resembling objectivity.

While i could understand that some might argue that the anthropologist has no right and/or obligation to interfere with cultural practices, I wonder where the line is? Let's consider the Rosaldo headhunter piece. Rosaldo writes powerfully about the phenomenon. But what happens if the headhunters decide to go after a kill? Assuming the tribe would allow it, does Rosaldo go along to document this rare event? I think that the easy answer to this question is "Of course not!" But I'm not convinced the easy answer is the answer all researchers would come up with.

I don't think this is an issue restricted to anthropology though. I often feel the same way about nature documentaries. While some might draw a sharp distinction between the ethics of how we treat animals vs people, I generally don't. If the endangered white rhino in your documentary is dying of thirst, I always wonder why the documentarians don't give it water. Yes it interferes. But sometimes, isn't it worth it?

- Josh Zimmerman