CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE CLIENT KIND
Am I ready for this? What will they be like? What will I be like? Nothing is more equally exciting and frightening for a young anthropologist than entering into the field for the first time. As I imagine Margaret Mead daydreamed about the exotic South Pacific before she arrived in person, I fantasize about the corporate world with both excitement and horror. What will it be like? Am I ready?
"No More Cakes and Ale?" Discovering Ethical Gray Areas in a Design Anthropology Class
This article examines how ethics were learned in a design anthropology class. Training in ethics is an essential part of any graduate program in anthropology, and we show how it was built into this course. At the same time, the fieldwork that students conducted as part of a client project for Motorola confronted some of them with unexpected and ethically ambiguous circumstances, which generated experiential learning as well. Regardless of how clearly ethical codes are written, researchers will always encounter gray areas in the field. The article presents a case study of one study participant who may have been intoxicated, analyzing this as an “extreme case” that brought ethical dilemmas into sharp focus. We conclude with suggestions for navigating ethical gray areas, based on class discussions about this and other ethical challenges.
Multiracial Matrix: The Role of Race Ideology in the Enforcement of Antidiscrimination Laws, a United States-Latin America Comparison
This Article examines the role of race ideology in the enforcement of antidiscrimination laws. Professor Herndndez demonstrates the ways in which the U.S. race ideology is slowly starting to resemble the race ideology of much of Latin America. The evolving U.S. race ideology is a multiracial matrix made up of four precepts: (1) racial mixture and diverse racial demography will resolve racial problems; (2) fluid racial classification schemes are an indicator of racial progress and the colorblind abolition of racial clas-sfications an indicator of absolute racial harmony; (3) racism is solely a phenomenon of aberrant racist individuals; and (4)focusing on race is itself racist. Because the multiracial matrix parallels much Latin American race discourse, Professor Herndndez conducts a comparative analysis between U.S. and Latin American anti-discrimination law enforcement practices. Professor Herndndez concludes that the new race ideology bolsters the maintenance of race hierarchy in a racially diverse population. Consequently, an uncritical embrace of the new race ideology will hinder the enforcement of antidiscrimination laws in the United States. Professor Herndndez proposes that a greater focus on racism as a global issue that treats race as a political identity formation will assist in the recognition of the civil rights dangers of a multiracial matrix. Rico Commission on Civil Rights. In addition, the following colleagues shared many helpful insights when discussing this project: