Anthropologists and Social Impact Assessment: Negotiating the Ethical MinefieldFootnote1

1. This is a revised version of paper originally presented at the Australian Anthropological Society Conference held in Cairns, 26–29 September 2006, as part of a session held in honour of Doug Miles by former students. I participated as Doug had been my honours supervisor. Doug's role in the controversy over the Tribal Research Centre at Chiang Mai during the Vietnam War reflected his insistence that anthropologists have ethical responsibilities and cannot hide behind the claim that they are carrying out objective research without human consequences. His concerns remain an inspiration and are very relevant to the practice of modern anthropology. I am grateful to Ronlyn Duncan, Michael Allen and two anonymous referees for very useful comments on an earlier draft.

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