Me, Myself, and IRB

This story discusses how my fieldwork with the Rainbow Family of Living Light shaped my understanding and definition of ethnographic “research” and how, if at all, my work has “fit” (or has not fit) within the institutional review board’s (IRB) definition of this concept. To explore this more fully, I situate this story within current debates surrounding ethnography and IRB oversight. By doing so, my goal is to propose a redefinition of IRB terms, offering an alternative ethical framework based on Rainbow philosophy, which positions ethnography as a type of “ethical spectacle.”