Abstract
An ongoing oral history project at the University of Cumbria seeks to uncover the lived experiences of people with learning difficulties who lived at the Royal Albert Hospital. A recently made video exposed the apparent distress this caused one of the participants. Ethical discussions about the project reached a point of being ‘stuck’. The ethical dilemma was presented at the Collaborative Action Research Network conference in 2009, and the ensuing discussion with conference participants produced a rich, collaborative unpicking of the issues. Problems of power, multiple discourse, historical relationships and ethical fluidity emerged. Analysis of the praxis of the project – that is, ways of thinking, doing and saying – suggests different ways of progressing.
Notes
1. UTP1: http://www.unlockingthepast.org.uk/plugins/file_manager/files/sm_test_01.html (accessed April 19, 2011).
2. UTP2 http://www.unlockingthepast.org.uk/index/independent_pages/view_independent_pages/1/ (accessed April 19, 2011).
3. UTP3 http://www.unlockingthepast.org.uk/plugins/file_manager/files/sm_test_02.html (accessed June 1, 2011).
4. UTP4 http://www.unlockingthepast.org.uk/index/archives/view_archives/60/ (accessed April 19, 2011).