ABSTRACT
In this paper I argue that apparent cultural conflict in research ethics can be overcome by the adoption of a decentred postmodern paradigm that accommodates cultural diversity. This conclusion is arrived at through an interrogation of the stated relationships between the West, culture and research ethics as it is applied to qualitative research in the social sciences. Following critical writers, some of whom are cited in this chapter, I use ‘the West’ as a political concept that only partially relates to a geographical location and that is associated with the ‘Centre’ of influence and power that seeks to define the world, failing to recognise the realities of the non-West or ‘Periphery’ (Hall 1996; Hannerz 1991). I also treat ‘culture’ as a contested term that is ideological in its construction (Holliday 2011).
