Meeting Resistance: Autonomy,Development,and “Informed Permission” in Chiapas,Mexico

Abstract

All anthropological research, including student projects, involves dilemmas concerning informed consent and the oversight of institutional review boards. In Chiapas, the leadership of an autonomous municipality has designed their own process of research approval. During the intensive schedule of teaching a field program and assisting students to develop field studies, the authors learned how those with whom they work in the field structure their approval process, through meetings and consensus. In this ethnographic narrative, the authors examine the details of this negotiation, linking it to the process of seeking autonomy through development in Chiapas, where “informed permission” and committed collaboration add symmetry to the research endeavor.

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