An ethic of responsibility in practice

This contribution sets out to consider certain ethical and methodological issues raised by the conduct of investigations in situations of extreme violence. It proposes to explore the relationship with the specific "object" in terms of researchers' responsibility towards the people about whom their research is conducted. That approach is based primarily on the development of a "comprehensive" sociology from the perspective of meaning, with the aim of entering the subjectivity of the other person. Within the context of extreme violence, such an approach poses increased difficulties, which this article endeavours to explore. That involves the researcher in constant, complex critical analysis of situations that disrupt all his or her bearings. Making the other person not simply an "object" but a "subject" of research also means going beyond categories that might constrain the researcher and entails continuous linkage of individual and collective histories. This naturally raises questions concerning not only the investigative but also the analytical techniques employed by the researcher.