Critical Review: Shelemay

I enjoyed this reading a great deal. It definitely changed my perspective on the ethics of getting involved directly in a community that one is studying. I respect Kay's rigorous attitude in crafting a set of ethical guidelines (p152), and I agree that the success of this method greatly depends on the degree to which the ethnomusicologist is aware of the impact they have, and employs vigilance so as to ensure that they can adhere to the set of moral guidelines Kay sets out. While reading this I wondered, is this view the result of understanding that participation is unavoidable and thus must be embraced in order to be controlled, or the valuing the benefits of participation to the extent that even if it were avoidable, it is morally sound to become active within the community. If, theoretically, it were possible to observe without entering to any degree into the society, that is, as a hypothetical fly on the wall, would it be more ethical to enter the society or not? This leads me to my question: to whom does the ethnomusicologist have a greater responsibility, the culture they are studying, or the worldwide community of scholarship?