Transparency in intensive research on violence: Ethical dilemmas and unforeseen consequences

Scholars who engage in intensive fieldwork have an obliga-tion to protect research subjects and communities from reper-cussions stemming from that research.1 Acting on that duty not only paves the way towards ethical research but also, as we argue below, facilitates deeper understanding of people’s lived experiences of politics. For scholars who study topics such as violence, mobilization, or illicit behavior, developing and maintaining their subjects’ trust constitutes the ethical and methodological foundation of their ability to generate scholarly insight. Without these commitments, work on these topics would not only be impossible; it would be unethical.