Research Ethics and Moral Dilemmas of Social Research in Eastern Europe and Beyond

The first two papers of this special section set the beginning of a series of workshops dedicated to exploring ethical challenges in the context of qualitative fieldwork conducted in Central and Eastern Europe and beyond hosted by the Centre for East European Language Based Areas (CEELBAS 2009-2011). The idea behind the first workshop in September 2009 was to give scholars and postgraduate students an opportunity to exchange their fieldwork experience relating to research ethics and practice within the Central and East European regional context. During this workshop, we realised that in addition to the need for knowledge exchange about these fieldwork experiences, it is essential to critically engage with the seemingly universal notion of research ethics. In particular, we concentrated on the specific question of ethical dilemmas which researchers face as either 'insiders' or 'outsiders' to the researched communities. Thus the issue of the researcher's social positionality and reflexivity represent the core theme for discussion in the essays presented in this special section.