The Ethics of Doing Research on Gendered Power Hierarchies

Ángel del Fresno-Díaz*, Alexandra Lux, Julia Stekla, Natasza Kosakowska-Berezecka, Karen Johnston, Devran Gulel, Federica Alberti, Tamara Shefer

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Book/ReportCommissioned report

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Abstract

Executive Summary

The present document constitutes Deliverable 1.2 / The ethics of doing research on gendered power hierarchies. It is the second deliverable of Work Package 1 “Synchroni-sation: Transformative Theory & Methodology”, which is part of the larger REWIRING (Re-alising girls’ and women’s inclusion, representation, and empowerment) project that aims to identify the structural root causes of gendered power hierarchies and create sustainable change to prevent and reverse existing gender inequalities.

The overall goal of the WP1 is to establish a Theory and Methods Innovation Lab, within which the foundations are laid for a context- and crisis-sensitive, systematic analysis of dynamics of intersectional gendered power hierarchies and an assessment of the effectiveness and unwanted effects of law and policies. WP1 has two main objectives:

• To develop an interdisciplinary and culturally sensitive theoretical framework for analysis and practical recommendations for addressing intersectional gender power hierarchies.
• To review ethical issues in producing and disseminating data on vulnerable and exploited groups.

The overall objective of this paper is:
• To evaluate the ethical implications of the REWIRING project based on contemporary ethics standards in research within the field of gender and a critical view of the literature.

The target audience of this paper consists of:
• Policymakers and other societal stakeholders (e.g., NGOs, companies) around the world who will consider using our transformative gender equality approach to fight gender inequality and follow ethical standards relevant to targeting gender inequalities.
• People working in institutions with an interest in reducing gender inequality.
• Researchers in universities and other institutions interested in reducing gender inequality, including—but explicitly not limited to—people involved in the REWIRING project.

The structure of this paper is as follows:
The present deliverable is not a standard guide to ethical requirements for research on gender power hierarchies that the project must comply with—please see Deliverable D 10.1; WP 10: Ethical requirements for details. Taking Deliverable D 10.1 as a starting point, this working paper will provide an overview of the scientific debates on the ethics of researching gendered power hierarchies. In other words, considering the standard guidelines that research must achieve, this working paper develops and discusses the scientific debates that already exist in fields such as psychology, law, and media sciences when applying research ethics.

• Section 1 briefly describes WP1 and its main objectives as well as this deliverable D1.2
• Section 2 briefly introduces the entire REWIRING project and its framework.
• Section 3 presents a conceptualisation of ethical research that involves understanding gender in the power hierarchy and its intersectional nature alongside other identity axes.
• Section 4 problematises some ethical debates in research on gender in power hierarchies.
• Finally, Section 5 highlights some ethical approaches and recommendations for addressing androcentric, binary, and colonial biases in research and increasing its transparency and scientific standards.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherRe-Wiring Project
Commissioning bodyHorizon Europe
Number of pages40
Publication statusPublished - 29 Feb 2024

Keywords

  • Ethics
  • Gender sensitive research

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