A Companion to Psychological Anthropology

A Companion to Psychological Anthropology. Conerly Casey and Robert B. Edgerton, eds. Williston, VT: Blackwell Publishers, 2005. 523 pp.     

A Companion to the Anthropology of American Indians

A Companion to the Anthropology of American Indians . Thomas Biolsi, ed. Williston, VT: Blackwell Publishers, 2004. 567 pp.     

Anthropology and the Politics of Indigeneity

This article is essentially a critical reflection on the transnational concept of Indigeneity, drawing from my long-standing involvement as a scholar-activist with indigenous peoples in Malaysia. With its multiple interpretations, configurations, and local inflections, the concept of Indigeneity has attracted much debate and contestation. It has become a significant political strategy in the counter-hegemonic indigenous social movements against exploitative, oppressive and repressive regimes throughout the world. In some contexts, Indigeneity is complicated by its conflation with racialised identities. While there is an implicit understanding that Indigeneity and marginality are closely linked, this is not always the case for certain claimants of indigenous status. In this article, I address these issues in the context of Malaysia and India, focusing on some of the conundrums and contradictions associated with the transnational concept of Indigeneity. I also reflect on some of my experiences with indigenous peoples in Hawaii and Australia and at international conferences. The article concludes with the viewpoint that anthropology requires continued engagement in a politics of critical solidarity with indigenous peoples, one that focuses on enablement rather than endless deconstruction.     

Anthropology,Politics and the Changing World of Aboriginal Australians

Essentialism has become a fundament of Aboriginal activism in modern Australia, with the result that informed, first-hand empirical observations of anthropologists who chronicle the deterioration of life in many Australian Aboriginal communities tend not to be taken seriously simply because their authors are not ethnically ‘Aboriginal’. This problem has contributed to a relative absence of analysis of the economic history of Aboriginal Australians, fostering instead an approach that prioritises the political and cultural rights of indigenous people above the kinds of life-enhancing circumstances that are necessary for them to participate in the economy and create wealth. This kind of essentialism has also resulted in a disregard for the rights of indigenous people as individuals, rather than as communities seeking self-determination, especially with regard to the rights of women and children. The work of Professor Ronald M. Berndt and Dr Catherine Berndt should serve as an example for today's anthropologists in encouraging broader expert participation in debates on indigenous disadvantage, despite the threat of admonishment or criticism by Aboriginal rights activists wielding the weapon of racial priority or essentialism.     

The Dictionary of Anthropology.; Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology: Humanity, Culture, and Social Life.; A Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory.

The Dictionary of Anthropology. Thomas Barfield. ed. Maiden, MA: Blackwell, 1997. 626 pp.
Companion Encyclopedia of Anthropology: Humanity, Culture, and Social Life. Tim Ingold. ed. New York: Routledge, 1997. 1128 pp.
. Dictionary of Cultural and Critical Theory. Michael Payne. ed. Maiden, MA: Blackwell, 1996. 644 pp.     

Closing Ranks: Fundamentals in History,Politics and Anthropology

In this presentation, I discuss fundamentalism from a processual perspective, seeking to tease out some general qualities of the processes involved in a return to fundamentals amidst social change. I start with an analysis of the historical dynamics of Icelandic society in the period 1400–1800, showing how the increasing insistence on old patterns and cultural fundamentals contributed to the gradual destruction of a one time flourishing medieval society. This devolution, I suggest, is closely correlated with a process of amplification (Sahlins) of a particular set of values, leading to a loss of flexibility in the response to environmental and other changes. Next follows a discussion of present day concerns with nationalism and other interests in bounding oneself off from the surrounding world, and demanding recognition in return. One of the processes discussed is a process of transvaluation (Tambiah), assimilating particulars to a larger and less context‐bound scheme and thereby gradually deepening the cleavage between selves and others, sometimes to the point of epistemological closure (Ignatieff). Finally, one of the anthropological fundamentals, holism, is discussed with a view to reassessing its potential for present‐day anthropology. It is argued that through the process of knowing implied in fieldwork, anthropologists arrive at a dual understanding of perceived wholes and creative agents. A new sense of holism may still grant both consistency and uniqueness to the anthropological discipline.     

Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, Politics, Praxis and Poetics

Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, Politics, Praxis and Poetics. Irma McClaurin, ed. East Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2001. 277 pp.