Authors

Discussion

This paper considers how the research ethics review process at UK universities affects the production of knowledge about the countries of Eurasia.  Over recent years, there have been increasing appeals to decolonize the study of this region. While the origins of this movement can be traced back to at least the 1990s, it has taken on new urgency in light of Russia’s current war in Ukraine.

The central claim of this paper is that these conversations cannot proceed without considering the role of universities’ ethics review in shaping academic research. The paper first reviews the principles of ethics review and how these principles are applied in practice. We then identify a series of problems that can arise from the current approach. In particular, these procedures too often undermine the agency of the individuals whom the process is intended to ‘protect’.  The result is a silencing or marginalization of voices from these countries and an underproduction of knowledge on certain contexts and topics. In doing so, the process serves to reify existing power imbalances and reinforce colonial approaches to the study of Eurasian societies. Ultimately, we call for a shift in how we conceptualize ‘research ethics’ and further reflection on what constitutes ‘ethical’ research in this context.