Ethics in a Culture of Dharma

Abstract

The diversity of human existence and survival calls for multiple reconsidered approaches to knowing and understanding lives. The standard procedures of knowing have so far been reflective of an understanding which is distant from the everyday realities of people. Ethical approaches used in research need to be sensitive not just to the context of enquiry but also to the varied ways of experiencing, engaging and negotiating with everyday life. The present article discusses the everyday ethics of engagements in the field through examples from ethnographic enquiries in different ecologies within India. Ethics of transparency, accountability, sensitive procedures, authenticity and mutuality in the relationships established in the field and beyond are argued to be vital to the research process. Dharma is understood as the basis of the universe in the Indian philosophy. Dharma encourages openness, sensitivity, and mutual respect towards all forms of life, embracing multiplicity and alterity. The article explores the nuances of four ethnographic studies from India to understand the choices and positions of the researchers in the light of Dharma as an approach while navigating the dynamic elements of the field enabling them to reduce the distinction between self and other.