In and Out of the West: Reconstructing Anthropology

Page-Barbour Lectures

by Maurice Godelier

Is anthropology simply a continuation of colonial domination and cultural imperialism by other means, or has it - since its nineteenth-century rebirth as a purportedly scientific discipline - produced reliable knowledge about the cultures it studies? Is anthropology a mirror - which reflects only the preoccupations of the (Western) anthropologist - or a window, through which it is possible to see, though not with the same eyes as their members, other cultures? Godelier places social anthropology in its historical perspective, with its origins in the West and, more particularly, colonialism, while also arguing that it has to some extent transcended its origins, achieving a measure of scientific objectivity and validity that cannot be reduced to a continuation of the colonial project. A final chapter discusses issues surrounding the presentation of non-western cultural artefacts to a Western general public.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published March 21, 2008

About the author

One of the most influential names in French anthropology who works as the Directeur d'études at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Best known as one of the earliest advocates of Marxism's incorporation into anthropology, he is also known for his field work among the Baruya in Papua New Guinea that spanned three decades from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Among the many honors he has received are the CNRS Gold Medal and the Alexander von Humboldt prize. His major works include The Making of Great Men, The Metamorphoses of Kinship, The Enigma of the Gift, In and Out of the West, and, more recently, Lévi-Strauss: A Critical Study of His Thought.