Women, Genocide, and Memory The Ethics of Feminist Ethnography in Holocaust Research

TitleWomen, Genocide, and Memory The Ethics of Feminist Ethnography in Holocaust Research
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2004
AuthorsJanet Liebman Jacobs
JournalGender & Society
Volume18
Issue2
Pagination223-238
ISSN0891-2432, 1552-3977
Abstract

This article explores the ethical dilemmas of doing a feminist ethnography of gender and Holocaust memory. In response to the conflicts the author experienced as both a participant/Jewish woman and an observer/feminist ethnographer, she engaged in a critical examination of her research methods and goals that led to an exploration into the complex moral issues that inform research on women and genocide specifically and feminist ethnographies of violence more generally. Drawing on her fieldwork at Holocaust sites in Eastern Europe, she identified three sources of methodological tension that developed during the research process: Role conflicts in the research setting, gender selectivity in studies of ethnic and racial violence, and the sexual objectification of women in academic discourse on violence and genocide. Each of these ethical tensions is examined from the standpoint of research on gender and the Holocaust.

URLhttp://gas.sagepub.com/content/18/2/223
DOI10.1177/0891243203261572