Good anthropology in dark times: Critical appraisal and ethnographic application

‘Dark Anthropology’ and its complementary ‘Anthropology of the Good’ have become influential and debated notions in anthropology in recent years. I here parse distinctive features of these emphases, address their relation to theory and to ethnography, and consider the stakes involved in concretely applying their conceptual designations. I discuss the general shift in anthropology from grand theory to key concept, and the topical delimitation of theory that results. In larger purview, Dark Anthropology and the Anthropology of the Good both have long theoretical genealogies as well as practical contexts of political and social understanding, including vis‐à‐vis recent events in the U.S. and elsewhere. I suggest that considering the relationship between politico‐economically structured inequality and attempts to assert positive meaning and purpose is the most productive way to ethnographically apply their alternative conceptualisations. This brings to greater focus the thorny question of whose understanding of inequality or suffering, or of moral value and positive wellbeing, is being articulated—the sentiments of the people studied, or the concepts of the analyst? It seems vital to examine both analytic and indigenous views of dark times, and of the good, to refine our understanding of both, that is, in order to consider our complementary conceptualisations in relation to both sides of the emic/etic coin. This refines our understanding of local sensibilities and also of the appropriate limit points of our own conceptual associations.     

Finding the good: Reactive modernity among the Gebusi,in the Pacific,and elsewhere

Conditions of being left behind in economic and political terms are keenly felt in many areas of Melanesia and the wider Pacific Islands—as is more generally the case in many developing and also developed countries. Insofar as modern expectations portend a future that should be improving, it is unsurprising that modern expectations or entitlements are throttled by economic and political downturns across many cultural and class conditions. Ensuing circumstances are not so much ‘post’ modern—since ideals of modern progress are not given up—as they are ‘reactively’ modern in cultural terms. In this context, a poignant and longstanding sense of backwardness in many areas of the insular Pacific arguably provides a cultural bellwether of increasingly widespread perceptions and reactions elsewhere. Among the Gebusi of Papua New Guinea prolonged economic downturn under conditions of marginality and remoteness has thrown people back on their own material and cultural resources. Despite a general absence of cash economy, monetisation or fiscalisation of ‘work’ increasingly orchestrates social relations. So, too, in the absence of government presence, police, or courts, mechanisms of dispute mediation have become locally developed and effectively elaborated, including through rhetorics of monetary compensation that were previously undeveloped in indigenous contexts of person‐for‐person exchange both in marriage and in death. In selected ways, reactive modernity among Gebusi has features that seem salutary—evoking an ‘anthropology of the good’—despite and even because of Gebusi's politicoeconomic marginality. Drawing on work by Ortner, Robbins, and others, the larger relevance of this development reframes the relevance of Dark Anthropology and an Anthropology of the Good.     

Isolation and potential cancer chemopreventive activities of phenolic compounds of beer

Beer contains a variety of phenolic compounds. During the brewing process, some of these compounds are removed by polyvinylpolypyrrolidone (PVPP) to prevent haze formation. We have analyzed the phytochemical composition of a PVPP residue as well as of unstabilized beer and isolated a total of 51 compounds. Eight structures were identified as novel, i.e., 2-(4′-hydroxyphenyl)-3,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (6), 2′-(4″-hydroxyphenyl)isoferulic acid ester (12), 1,2,5,7-tetrahydroxyanthraquinone (23) and 4,7-dihydroxy-5-(2′,4′,6′-trihydroxyphenyl)-indan-1,2-dione (24) from the PVPP residue, and catechin-7-O-β-(6″-O-nicotinoyl)-β-D-glucopyranoside (41), ent-epigallo-catechin-(4αto8, 2αtoOto7)catechin (44), ent-epigallocatechin (4αto6, 2αtoOto7)catechin (45) and 2,3-cis-3,4-trans-2-[2,3-trans-3,3′,4′,5,7-pentahydroxyflavan-8-yl]-4-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl)3,5,7-trihydroxybenzopyran (46) from the unstabilized beer. Most of the compounds were tested for potential cancer chemopreventive activities in in vitro test systems detecting a modulation of carcinogen metabolism (inhibition of phase 1 cytochrome P450 1A (Cyp1A) activity, induction of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (QR) activity) and anti-inflammatory mechanisms (inhibition of lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-mediated induction of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), inhibition of cyclooxygenase 1 (Cox-1) activity). 1,2,5,7-Tetrahydroxyanthraquinone (23) and xanthohumol (25), a prenylated chalcone derived from hop, were identified as the most potent compounds and were additionally tested for inhibition of chemically-induced preneoplastic lesions in an ex vivo mouse mammary gland organ culture model (MMOC). Importantly, both agents inhibited lesion formation with halfmaximal inhibitory concentrations (IC₅₀) of 0.1 and 0.02 μM, respectively. Our results demonstrate that beer is an interesting source of potential cancer chemopreventive agents and should be further investigated with this respect. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Restriction fragment length polymorphism evaluation of six peanut species within the Avachis section

Summary Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) were assessed among accessions within six peanut species of the Arachis section: tetraploid cultivated species, A. hypogaea; tetraploid wild species, A. monticola; and four diploid wild species, A. batizocoi,A. cardenasii, A. duranensis and A. glandulifera. While the two tetraploid species did not show polymorphism with 16 PstI-generated random genomic probes, two of seven seed cDNA probes detected polymorphisms. The RFLP variation detected by two seed cDNA probes appeared to be related to structural changes occurring within tetraploid species. The botanical var. fastigiata (Valencia market type) of A. hypogaea subspecies fastigiata was shown to be the most variable. Arachis monticola was found to be more closely related to A. hypogaea subspecies hypogaea than to subspecies fastigiata. Diploid species A. cardenasii, A. duranensis, and A. glandulifera showed considerable intraspecific genetic diversity, but A. batizocoi showed little polymorphism. The genetic distance between the cultivated peanut and wild diploid species was found to be closest for A. duranensis.Florida Agricultural Experiment Station, Journal Series No. R-01493     

THE EFFECTS OF AUXIN,ACTINOMYCIN D,ETHIONINE, AND PUROMYCIN ON POST-POLLINATION BEHAVIOR BY CYMBIDIUM (ORCHIDACEAE) FLOWERS

Application of NAA to Cymbidium stigmas induces anthocyanin formation in columns and labella as well as swelling of the former, stigmatic closure, and wilting of sepals and petals. All of these are aspects of post-pollination behavior by orchid flowers. Anthocyanin formation and wilting, but not swelling of the column and stigmatic closure, can be inhibited by actinomycin D, ethionine and puromycin. This suggests that anthocyanin formation and wilting require de novo DNA-dependent RNA synthesis and production of new proteins. Swelling of the column and stigmatic closure, on the other hand, are apparently independent of such new synthesis and may be brought about by the activation of pre-existing compounds.