Studying the Other or Becoming the Other : Engaging with Indigenous Peoples in IS Research

Abstract

This panel is concerned with the ethics and politics of engagement with indigenous peoples in information systems research. As members of a research team that have been studying the use of social media by indigenous peoples to collaborate and further their cause, we have recently become aware of some of the unintended consequences of IS research. Since others could easily appropriate our findings for political purposes, we believe that we as IS researchers need to become more sensitive to the ways in which we study “the other” or engage with “the other.” Hence, the panelists will discuss and debate the nature and extent of a researcher’s engagement when studying indigenous peoples. The panel, chaired by Michael Myers, includes three panelists who have been studying indigenous peoples’ use of social media (Liz Davidson, Amber Young and Hameed Chughtai), and one panelist who is an indigenous scholar studying indigenous theories in IS (Pitso Tsibolane).