Illustrations of ethical dilemmas during ethnographic fieldwork: when social justice meets neoliberalism in adult education

This article explores the ethical dilemmas encountered by two ethnographers in adult education research in a context where neoliberalism impacts on education settings, policies, and social justice. Everyday ethical dilemmas arise in thorny situations in which the general ethical principles ethnographers are regulated by cannot help them react or respond in the heat of the moment. The three technological processes through which neoliberalism in education is operationalised (the market, management, and performance) are used to analyse two ethnographic research contexts in adult education settings in Quebec, Canada. The empirical data generated from these two separate investigations are used to construct six vignettes illustrating how neoliberal technologies influence social justice in those settings. Neoliberalism, precarity and social justice are closely related both theoretically and in our results. The data show the sensitivity required by the ethnographer to navigate the precarious situations that individuals and organisations face vis-a-vis neoliberalism in adult education.