Everyday ethical challenges for Indian community development practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Drawing upon empirical evidence and using Sarah Banks’s concept ‘ethics work’ as a conceptual approach, the article examines the ethical dilemmas facing community development practitioners during the COVID-19 pandemic. The article attempts to understand the everyday experience of community development practitioners working with Dalits, women, and labour migrants in India. Further, given these communities’ social and economic vulnerabilities, the article tries to comprehend how practitioners’ engagement with these communities during the COVID-19 response exposed them to various ethical dilemmas. The article also traces negotiation and navigation strategies for dealing with ethical dilemmas and delivering services in the community during the COVID-19 pandemic in ways that promote human dignity.