This article examines court cases brought by clients against private health insurance companies and against Brazil’s public health system. When clients take private health insurers to court, they... Show moreThis article examines court cases brought by clients against private health insurance companies and against Brazil’s public health system. When clients take private health insurers to court, they successfully claim that the insurer violated their dignity, which entitles them to a moral damage payment. Similar cases against the state did not include moral damage claims. In relation to public healthcare, it is somehow not possible to equate dignity with economic value. One might conclude that the dignity of consumers in the market is worth more than that of citizens vis-à-vis the state. Instead, I argue for a more subtle approach by concentrating on the ethics of incommensurability. What legal and ethical considerations lead to such a fundamental incommensurability between personhood and economic value? How do the actors involved in court proceedings (claimants, prosecutors, judges, and insurers) perceive the differences between cases against insurance companies and against public health authorities? What can we make of the differences between the legal and everyday understandings of dignity and morality? Show less
The main argument of this chapter is that digital ethnography is neither new nor consisting of one single approach. It’s a set of methods that studies the use of digital technology both on- and... Show moreThe main argument of this chapter is that digital ethnography is neither new nor consisting of one single approach. It’s a set of methods that studies the use of digital technology both on- and offline, while at the same time using affordances of these very same digital technologies for studying the impact of the digital on cultural practice and social relations. The chapter addresses some of the definitional issues of an ethnography of the digital: How is it defined as a form of inquiry? And do we need a separate sub-discipline in order to study the digital ethnographically? Secondly, and in a next section, it refers to some of the foundational moments of digital ethnography, explaining how these have triggered new approaches and novel ways of understanding the digital. The fourth section particularly focuses on the methodological consequences of such shifts, looking at some of the classical methods and techniques used in doing digital ethnography whilst similarly exploring new frontiers where the ‘fireworks’ are expected to happen. After a brief section delving into some of the emergent ethical issues in this field, I will conclude this contribution with recommendations on how to teach (ourselves) digital ethnography. Show less
Pels, P.; Boog, I.; Florusbosch, H.J.; Kripe, Z.; Minter, T.; Postma, M.; ... ; Richards‐Rissetto, H. 2018
Recent demands for accountability in ‘data management’ by funding agencies, universities, international journals and other academic institutions have worried many anthropologists and ethnographers.... Show moreRecent demands for accountability in ‘data management’ by funding agencies, universities, international journals and other academic institutions have worried many anthropologists and ethnographers. While their demands for transparency and integrity in opening up data for scrutiny seem to enhance scientific integrity, such principles do not always consider the way the social relationships of research are properly maintained. As a springboard, the present Forum, triggered by such recent demands to account for the use of ‘data’, discusses the present state of anthropological research and academic ethics/integrity in a broader perspective. It specifically gives voice to our disciplinary concerns and leads to a principled statement that clarifies a particularly ethnographic position. This position is then discussed by several commentators who treat its viability and necessity against the background of wider developments in anthropology – sustaining the original insight that in ethnography, research materials have been co‐produced before they become commoditised into ‘data’. Finally, in moving beyond such a position, the Forum broadens the issue to the point where other methodologies and forms of ownership of research materials will also need consideration. Show less
