Engaging Anthropology

161 Pages·2009·1.32 MB·English

by  Thomas Hylland Eriksen

Engaging Anthropology
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Engaging Anthropology
The Case for a Public Presence
Thomas Hylland Eriksen
Oxford • New York
First published in 2006 by
Berg
Editorial offices:
1st Floor, Angel Court, 81 St Clements Street, Oxford OX4 1AW, UK
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010, USA
© Thomas Hylland Eriksen 2006
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form
or by any means without the written permission of Berg.
Berg is the imprint of Oxford International Publishers Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN-13 978 1 84520 064 0 (Cloth)
978 1 84520 065 7 (Paper)
ISBN-10 1 84520 064 0 (Cloth)
1 84520 065 9 (Paper)
Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Porthcawl, Mid Glamorgan
Printed in the United Kingdom by Biddles Ltd, King’s Lynn
www.bergpublishers.com
In loving memory of Eduardo P. Archetti
(1943–2005)
‘Even mud gives the illusion of depth.’ (Marshall McLuhan)
‘You have nothing to lose but your aitches.’ (George Orwell)
Contents
Preface ix
1 A Short History of Engagement 1
2 What Went Wrong? 23
3 Complexity and Context 43
4 Fast and Slow Media 69
5 Narrative and Analysis 93
6 Altercentric Writing 115
7 Why Anthropology Matters 129
Bibliography 133
Index 145
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Preface
Anthropology, the study of human cultures and societies, is exceptionally relevant
as a tool for understanding the contemporary world, yet it is absent from nearly
every important public debate in the Anglophone world. Its lack of visibility is an
embarrassment and a challenge.
When, in early summer 2004, the cultural magazine Prospect presented its list
of the top 100 British public intellectuals, not a single anthropologist was on it.
This does not mean that university academics were absent – there were historians,
sociologists, philosophers and biologists sprinkled among the broadcasters, essayists
and critics. The absence of anthropologists should have had the discipline worried
– after all, an important part of the social scientist’s job in our societies consists in
being worried – but there are good reasons to suspect that few cared much. After all,
anthropology, whether it calls itself ‘social’ or ‘cultural’, hasn’t been very public for
some time. In fact, it has almost gone underground in the English-speaking world,
‘hibernating in a difficult language’, as Adorno said, knowing very well indeed what
he was talking about.
This situation is puzzling. Anthropology is about making sense of other people’s
worlds, translating their experiences and explaining what they are up to, how their
societies work and why they believe in whatever it is that they believe in – including
their whispered doubts and shouted heresies. Anthropologists have an enormous
amount of knowledge about human lives, and most of them know something
profound about what it is that makes people different and what makes us all similar.
Yet there seems to be a professional reluctance to share this knowledge with a wider
readership. Translating from other cultures is what we are paid to do; translating for
the benefit of readers outside the in-group seems much less urgent. Anthropological
monographs and articles tend to be dense, technical and frankly boring, and in many
cases they are preoccupied with details, allowing the larger picture to slip away from
sight. Attention to detail is not itself a bad thing; professional specialization and the
use of a specialized language may be necessary for knowledge to advance among the
initiates, lest we all become journalists.
The problem is that all these fine analytic texts, often brimming with insights
and novel angles, rarely build bridges connecting them with the concerns of non-
specialists. Also, they are far too rarely supplemented by writings aimed at engaging
a wider readership. I have written this book, which tries to show how anthropology
could matter to every thinking human being, as a result of several years of mounting
frustration. I have spent most of my working hours since my mid-twenties as a
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