Autoethnography,Ethics,and Making Your Baby Cry

Abstract

How do we evaluate and justify the effect of our autoethnographic work on others? The author uses the story of her daughters’ responses to her doctoral research on spousal abuse to open up difficult questions of harm versus benefit and intent versus impact. Although an ethic of care seems morally appealing, it may not adequately manage the risks and demands of writing from and about abuse. In such fields, empathy can be a dangerous liability. Rather than trying to find meaning in loss, such work may be better understood as a practice of survivance. This piece reflects on the complex relationships of power and vulnerability revealed at the intersection of love, trauma, testimony, and scholarship and their implications for ethical praxis.