ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the ethical entanglements that occur when anthropologists ply their trade in contemporary marketplaces. It examines dynamics in the personal, professional, and political domains in which these challenges are negotiated. The chapter examines the disciplines of marketing and consumer research. Professing for the author is a fusion of paideia and praxis that addresses both ethical problem-solving and ethical problem-finding. Consulting is hedged about with practical and moral ambivalence, as a quick check of the myriad web pages devoted to jokes about consultants readily confirms. It is not just mainstream anthropology that is suspicious of the enterprise; even willing clients harbor doubts. In consulting, field work is frequently compressed compared to conventional practice. The author have been fortunate enough to pursue most of his career in the marketing departments of two elite private universities with top-ranked business programs, one at the graduate level and one at the undergraduate level.
