Pragmatic ethics of anthropological research, the study of obeah in St. Lucia
The establishment of ethics committees is quite recent in the field of anthropology, and they submit research in this field in many obligations — before, during and after the field. A fieldwork in St. Lucia in 2006, based on an understanding of rhetoric and gossips of witchcraft and construction of moral reasoning associated with obeah, will serve to show how compliance with regulations and ethical principles, such as defined in the committees, but also more widely in the anthropological discipline, not only is almost impossible, but also greatly limits research that focuses on «secret» or morally devalued practices. It shows the need to dispose of this ethics institutionalized for the benefit of a personal ethic.