Fieldwork? Better not: Ethics bureaucracy in Eastern Europe

Abstract

This article discusses the methodological and ethical challenges posed by the bureaucratization of research ethics in Eastern Europe, particularly as this impacts the practice of anthropology and fieldwork. It reflects on the authors’ extensive fieldwork among Czech-speaking Protestants in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, highlighting the discrepancy between Western and Eastern European academic norms regarding ethnography. The authors argue that increased formalization and ethical regulation favour more easily bureaucratically managed methodologies, to the detriment of traditional anthropological fieldwork, which is critical for deep cultural understanding.