The paper I am proposing for the Middle East Studies conference is one component of a larger study on slavery in the United Arab Emirates. It began with field work on current domestic workers where I encountered former slaves socializing with their former mistresses. The second part addressed in a paper the issue of domestic slavery and the difficulties faced by the researcher because of the non-cooperation of the research subjects. Principally, this involved the refusal of former slaves and their descendants to discuss their experiences of slavery as well as the denial by UAE women that the servants in question were ever slaves. At this point I began to refer to domestic slavery as a “silent” moment in the history of the country. There is a reluctance to discuss domestic slavery in the country. Many explanations could be provided for such reluctance, among them the status current (previously slaves families and descendants of slavery) they benefit from. This “silence” along with a paucity of written records means that research on domestic slavery in the UAE needs alternative methodologies as well as sensitivity to the social and cultural context in order to uncover the history of domestic slavery. In my research, I used local collections of oral histories that address the subject of slavery indirectly and interviews with UAE historians and other academics. Another source that has provided important insights into the history and practice of slavery is novels by UAE nationals and local creative writings. Since I began this project, my greatest asset and, paradoxically, a possible liability has been my social capital as a UAE citizen by marriage and long-time resident in the country. Social capital creates a paradox for the researcher because on the one hand, it connects the society and the subjects of the research to the researcher, who becomes the embodiment of social sensitivity. This could then cause the researcher to refrain from addressing socially sensitive issues such as slavery.