Anthropology and Egalitarianism: Ethnographic Encounters from Monticello to Guinea-Bissau

246 Pages·2010·2.1 MB·English

by  Eric Gable

Anthropology
&
Egalitarianism

Anthropology
&
Egalitarianism
Ethnographic Encounters from
Monticello to Guinea-Bissau
Eric g ablE
indiana University Press
Bloomington and Indianapolis
This book is a publication of
Indiana University Press
601 North Morton Street
Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA
iupress.indiana.edu
Telephone orders 800-842-6796
Fax orders 812-855-7931
Orders by e-mail [email protected]
© 2011 by Eric Gable
All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying and recording, or by any information storage
and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publisher. The Association of American University Presses’
Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to
this prohibition.
∞ The paper used in this publication meets the minimum
requirements of the American National Standard for
Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gable, Eric.
Anthropology and egalitarianism : ethnographic encounters from
Monticello to Guinea-Bissau / Eric Gable.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-253-35576-8 (cloth : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-253-22275-6
(pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Ethnology—Philosophy. 2. Ethnology—Fieldwork. 3.
Equality—Philosophy. I. Title.
GN345.G33 2010
305.8001—dc22
2010020766
1 2 3 4 5 16 15 14 13 12 11
For Larsen, Grace, Ned, and Martin

All ethnography is part philosophy, and
a good deal of the rest is confession.
—Clifford Geertz

Contents
Preface and Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Culture by Contrast
and Theory in Anthropology 1
1 Supping with Savages 15
2 Standing in a Line 35
3 Jefferson’s Ardor 57
4 The Colonialist’s Dress Code 80
5 Taking Pictures in the Field, or the
Anthropologist’s Dress Code 97
6 Beyond Belief 127
7 The Sex Life of Savages 157
Conclusion: Tending to Nature, Tending
to Culture; or, Is Anthropology History? 184
Notes on Sources 211
References 219
Index 225