Anthropologists in a Wider World

by Dresch, Paul; James, Wendy; Parkin, David J.

• ISBN13: 9781571817990
• ISBN10: 1571817999
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-10-01
• Publisher: Berghahn Books

Summary

The tradition of intensive fieldwork by a single anthropologist in one area has been challenged by new emphasis on studying historical patterns, wider regions, and global networks. Some anthropologists have started their careers from the new vantage point, amidst a chorus of claims for innovative methodologies. Others have lived through these changes of perspective and are able to reflect on them, while re-evaluating the place of fieldwork within the broader aims of general anthropology. Constant through the chapters is a distinctively qualitative empirical approach, once associated with the village but now being developed in relation to large-scale or dispersed communities.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	ix
Notes on contributors	xi
Acknowledgements	xv
Introduction: Fieldwork and the passage of time	1	(26)
Paul Dresch
Wendy James
Indians and cowboys: two field experiences	27	(18)
Peter Riviere
A view from afar: memories of New Guinea Highland warfare	45	(24)
Michael O'Hanlon
Beyond the first encounter: transformations of 'the field' In North East Africa	69	(22)
Wendy James
Templates, evocations and the long-term fieldworker	91	(18)
David Parkin
Wilderness of mirrors: truth and vulnerability in Middle Eastern fieldwork	109	(20)
Paul Dresch
Serendipity: reflections on fieldwork in China	129	(22)
Frank Pieke
Fieldwork and reflexivity: thoughts from the anthropology of Japan	151	(16)
Roger Goodman
Recollections of life crisis: distancing the personal	167	(20)
Louella Matsunaga
Views of Jain history	187	(18)
Marcus Banks
The ethnomuslcologist in the wilderness	205	(24)
Helene La Rue
Trying to get there: approaches to Indonesia	229	(14)
R.H. Barnes
The field and the desk: choices and linkages	243	(16)
N.J. Allen
Epilogue: Fieldwork unfolding	259	(16)
David Parkin
Bibliography	275	(20)
Index	295