Devil’s advocate: Sketch of an amoral anthropology
Devil’s advocate: Sketch of an amoral anthropology This essay polemicizes against contemporary anthropology’s ubiquitous moralism and its demand for engagement. It does so by trying on the glasses of evolutionary…
Moral anthropology: A critique of criticism
Moral anthropology: A critique of criticism The anthropology of morality continues to be met with resistance. Opposition rests on the perception that one cannot study morals without moralizing or advocating…
Rising tides and anthropological morals
Rising tides and anthropological morals Drawing on debates in southern African anthropology, I suggest that where knowledge claims themselves are in question, comparison, uncertainty, and play may be critical in…
Iconoclasm and the restitution of African cultural heritage What role for the communities of owners?
Iconoclasm and the restitution of African cultural heritage What role for the communities of owners? Go to Source
Further thoughts on iconoclasm
Further thoughts on iconoclasm Inspired by the thoughts of Zoë Strother, in this short piece I rethink my previous work on iconoclasm in West Africa, saluting her invitation to consider…
Iconoclasm and restitution: Between denial and cultural realism
Iconoclasm and restitution: Between denial and cultural realism The destruction or loss of objects belonging to African cultural heritage, usually the result of historical antecedents, has had a serious impact…
Passions and pathogens: Notes on the uncertainty of heritage
Passions and pathogens: Notes on the uncertainty of heritage This response to Zoë Strother’s “Iconoclasms in Africa,” specifically its attention to the historical entanglement of museums and iconoclasm, reflects on…
The Wambɲug emblem of the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny and its implications for contemporary iconoclasm in Côte d’Ivoire
The Wambɲug emblem of the University Félix Houphouët-Boigny and its implications for contemporary iconoclasm in Côte d’Ivoire The present reflections are intended as a contribution to the theme of the…
The ontological antinomy: Food, surfaces, and transcendence in the village of Awim, Papua New Guinea
The ontological antinomy: Food, surfaces, and transcendence in the village of Awim, Papua New Guinea In anthropology, antinomy has generally been conceived negatively, metaphorically, and within the limits of epistemology…
“I was at the right place at the right time”: The neglected role of happenstance in the lives of people and institutions
“I was at the right place at the right time”: The neglected role of happenstance in the lives of people and institutions This paper presents coproduced ethnographic material concerning the…
Invaluable enmeshments in pedagogy: An autoethnography of an anthropologist in the classroom
Invaluable enmeshments in pedagogy: An autoethnography of an anthropologist in the classroom This article explores the enmeshments and vulnerabilities that emerge in undergraduate courses on gender and sexuality. In these…
Iconoclasm and the restitution debate
Iconoclasm and the restitution debate Go to Source
Iconoclasms in Africa: Implications for the debate on restitution of cultural heritage
Iconoclasms in Africa: Implications for the debate on restitution of cultural heritage This article demonstrates that a long history of iconoclastic struggles exists in numerous countries of sub-Saharan Africa and…
Making Food Manageable – Packaging as a Code of Practice for Work Practices at the Supermarket
Making Food Manageable – Packaging as a Code of Practice for Work Practices at the Supermarket Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Ahead of Print. While packaging-free stores are in the uptake,…
Lebensphilosophie and the revolution in anthropology: Uncovering the original “turn to life”
Lebensphilosophie and the revolution in anthropology: Uncovering the original “turn to life” In two recent themed collections in this publication, numerous contributors have explored the term and concept of “life”…
Viktor Shklovsky, Bronislaw Malinowski, and the invention of a narrative device: Implications for a history of ethnographic theory
Viktor Shklovsky, Bronislaw Malinowski, and the invention of a narrative device: Implications for a history of ethnographic theory The advent of Malinowski’s ethnographic theory is inscribed in a wider modernist…
Missionary conversions: How missionary encounters pushed fundamentalists towards evangelicalism
Missionary conversions: How missionary encounters pushed fundamentalists towards evangelicalism Missionary encounters stimulate cultural change, although not always in ways one might expect. Throughout the mid-twentieth century, among missionaries from the…
Searching for the new human: Glacier melt, anthropogenic change, and self-reflection in Andean pilgrimage
Searching for the new human: Glacier melt, anthropogenic change, and self-reflection in Andean pilgrimage Arguing in favor of anthropology’s humanity-centered research tradition, this article examines how the encounter with human…
Witchcraft after modernity: Old and new directions in the study of witchcraft in Africa
Witchcraft after modernity: Old and new directions in the study of witchcraft in Africa What are the current trends in the study of witchcraft in Africa? Twenty years ago, the…
“We got citizenship but nothing else”: Love, (be)longing, and betrayal in the context of India’s citizenship regime
“We got citizenship but nothing else”: Love, (be)longing, and betrayal in the context of India’s citizenship regime While recent amendments to India’s Citizenship Act are designed to exclude Muslims from…