SC2218: Anthropology and the SC2218: Anthropology and the Human ConditionHuman Condition

Lecture 9: Anthropology, Lecture 9: Anthropology, Ethnography andEthnography and

the Problem of Representation the Problem of Representation

Eric C. ThompsonEric C. Thompson

Semester 1, 2008/2009Semester 1, 2008/2009

Socio-Cultural Systems (Summary)Socio-Cultural Systems (Summary)

• Kinship: Cultural concepts for organizing social relationships based on family ties.

• Gender: Cultural concepts for organizing social relationships based on sex.

• Economy: Cultural concepts for organizing social relationships of exchange.

• Community: Cultural processes for imagining group identities.

Anthropology c.1960-1980Anthropology c.1960-1980• Scientific, Structural-Functional Approach• Cultural Relativism; Non-hierarchical (no culture is

better than another; they are just different)• Non-evolutionary (rejection of unilinear evolution of

cultural ‘stages’ from 19th c.)• Societies and Cultures seen as “Whole”, functional,

equilibrium systems (structures) of thought and behavior

• Most anthropologists are white (European / American) men doing research in the “Third World”.

Problems c.1960-1980Problems c.1960-1980• If cultures are whole, equilibrium systems, how

does one account for change?

• Entry of larger numbers women and non-Europeans into anthropology, began to question male and Euro-centric biases.

• Critique of Ethnography: Representations of “Others” to Europeans

• Critique of Colonialism, Anthropology’s Role

• Globalization, Urbanization, Rapid Change

Where Are We Going?Where Are We Going?

• Part 1: Anthropological Frameworks– Strangers abroad; Genetic inheritance;

The concept of Culture

• Part 2: Social-Cultural Systems– Kinship, Gender, Economy,

Community

• Part 3: Building on the Frameworks & Moving into the Future– Problem of Representation, History

and Change, the Poetry of Culture, Anthropology in the 21st Century

Anthropology1980-Now

““Sight Unseen”Sight Unseen”• The film compares points of view of members of

a Balinese family with those of visitors to Bali. What differences in points of view does the film emphasize?

• What examples does the film provide? What counter-examples are in the film?

• What does the film mean about “mistaking a process for a product”?

• What is the point of the guy walking around with the ice cream cart???

Overview of ThemesOverview of Themes• From Structuralism and Poststructuralism• The Problem of Representation• Writing Culture / Critiquing Ethnography• Questioning Representations

– Gender– Ethnicity, Race

• Revisiting and Revising Ethnography• Ongoing Debates…

Structuralism & PoststructuralismStructuralism & Poststructuralism

• Structuralism (& Structural-Functionalism) represent culture as fixed and static

• Poststructuralism represents culture as fluid, dynamic and changing

• Poststructural “deconstruction” aims at “taking apart” representations to reveal their hidden assumptions.

• Poststructuralism is also associated with “postmodernism” (for this course, do not need to worry about differences between the terms)

Representing BaliRepresenting Bali• View of the tourist

(structural anthropologist?) – looking for the ‘authentic’ Bali, the ‘real’ Balinese culture.

• View of the Balinese (poststructuralist?) – creating and recreating “Balinese” culture in their everyday life.

Structural...Culture… “Product”

Poststructural...Discursive… “Process”

*Does the film privilege the “product” or “process”?*Is either more “real” than the other?”

The Problem of RepresentationThe Problem of Representation• How have anthropologists represented the

people they study?

• How and why are these representations problematic?

• Issues from the reflexive “Writing Culture” movement of the 1980s & 1990s.*

*Reflexive – an action directed or turned back on the agent of that action; marked by or capable of reflection

EthnographyEthnography• “Ethno” – Etymology:

French, from Greek ethno-, ethn-, from ethnos : race : people : cultural group <ethnocentric>*

• “graphy” - 1 : writing or representation*

• Ethnography is “writing about or representation of a group of people”

• Lee’s The Dobe Ju/’hoansi is a classic example of Ethnography.

*http://www.m-w.com/

Writing Culture /Writing Culture /Anthropology as Cultural CritiqueAnthropology as Cultural Critique

• Approaching Ethnography as a literary genre.

• Influenced by:– Clifford Geertz (1970s - )

(anthropology as interpretation)

– James Clifford (1980s - ) (ethnography as literature)

• Seeking new approaches to ethnographic writing

Power & Politics of RepresentationPower & Politics of Representation• Representations are cultural – they are

models of the world and models for the world. (They shape how we think and act.)

• Gender and Racial/Ethnic representations shape our beliefs of ourselves and others.

• Ethnographic representations shape our understanding of peoples represented.

• Does it matter who does the representing?*• Does it matter who the author is?

*The argument that it does matter is sometimes called standpoint epistemology; i.e. knowledge is not neutral, but depends on your point of view (or ‘standpoint’)

Case 1: GenderCase 1: GenderManMan the Hunter the Hunter

• Evolutionary Anthropology & Concepts of Gender

• “Man the Hunter” was the dominant representation of our ancestors…

• Men central actors, Women “along for the ride”

Woman the Hunter?Woman the Hunter?

Did Women ever Evolve?Did Women ever Evolve?

Ever?Ever?

The Woman That Never EvolvedThe Woman That Never Evolved

• Critique of androcentric* theory.• Male anthropologists focused on

males and never paid attention to all the things females do…

• Females choose mates.• Females compete.• Females forge social bonds.• Females socialize infants.• In all of these ways females

(more than males) drive evolution.

Sarah Hrdy

*Androcentric: Centered on or biased toward men.

Case 2: Social EvolutionCase 2: Social Evolution

• 19th C. European Idea• All societies progress

through stages• Europeans = most

advanced• Justification of

European Colonial Rule

Lower Savagery

Middle Savagery

Upper Savagery

Lower Barbarism

Middle Barbarism

Upper Barbarism

Civilization

Lewis Henry Morgan’sScheme of Social Evolution

L.H. Morgan

Critiquing AnthropologyCritiquing Anthropology• Talal Asad: Anthropology and

the Colonial Encounter• Syed Hussein Alatas: The

Myth of the Lazy Native• Daniel Goh: Ethnographic

Empire• These and many others have

critiqued hidden the Eurocentric ideology in much 19th and 20th century anthropology.

Talal Asad

Daniel Goh

Syed Hussein Alatas

*Eurocentric: Centered on or biased toward Europe or European people.

““On Cannibalism”On Cannibalism”

• What representations is the narrator reacting to?

• What is at stake in these representations?

Are Anthropological Are Anthropological Representations about Power?Representations about Power?

• Who gets to “represent” whom?

• What do these representations mean?

• What are their effects?• Is a “World’s Fair” about

diversity or European superiority?

Ethno… (a group of people)Ethno… (a group of people)graphy… (writing about or of)graphy… (writing about or of)

Revisited and Revised…Revisited and Revised…

“These peoples (foragers), despite their cultural and geographic diversity, have a core of features in common, and this core of features represents the basic human adaptation stripped of the accretions and complications brought about by agriculture, urbanization, advanced technology, and national and class conflict – all of the “advances” of the last few thousand years.” (Lee 2003: 3)

Echoes of 19th Century Social Evolution in Lee’s Dobe Ju/’hoansi

“I no longer believe that studies of contemporary hunter-gatherers are primarily a tool for understanding the evolution of human behavior.

Understanding hunter-gatherer ecology, however important, is not enough.

One has to both build on it and transcend it by looking at adaptation in a much broader sense, including the internal dynamics of foragers and their articulation with wider political economies.” (Lee 2003: 195)

Lee Revised(in response to criticisms)

Ongoing Debates…Ongoing Debates…

• Who is “representing” whom?• Who has the power (political, social, economic,

cultural capital) to produce representations?• What are the effects of the representations we

produce?• Should people only represent themselves and

not “others”?• If so, who counts as “us” (selves) and “them”

(others)?• Does this just reinforce racism, sexism,

nationalism, ethnocentrism?

Subjectivity, Fieldwork, Subjectivity, Fieldwork, RepresentationRepresentation

• Young• Malay• Muslim• Malaysian• Rural• Women

• Young• Malay• Muslim• Malaysian• Rural• Men

Aihwa OngUC Berkeley

Eric ThompsonNational U of Singapore

Ongoing Debates…Ongoing Debates…

• The critique of anthropology has resulted in a “crisis of representation”…

• Do we stop doing anthropology, ethnography, cross-cultural research?

• Or do we do it differently, more reflexively, perhaps even…. better?*

*Many postmodernists do not believe in “better”… but that is another story