Engaged Anthropology: Diversity and Dilemmas
2010; University of Chicago Press; Volume: 51; Issue: S2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1086/656340
ISSN1537-5382
Autores Tópico(s)Anthropology: Ethics, History, Culture
ResumoNext article FreeEngaged Anthropology: Diversity and Dilemmas Wenner‐Gren Symposium Supplement 2by Leslie C. Aielloby Leslie C. Aiello Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreEngaged Anthropology: Diversity and Dilemmas grew out of a Wenner‐Gren‐sponsored workshop titled “The Anthropologist as Social Critic: Working toward a More Engaged Anthropology” held at the foundation headquarters in New York City, January 22–25, 2008 (fig. 1). The workshop was organized by Setha M. Low (Graduate Center, City University of New York) and Sally Engle Merry (New York University). Both Low and Merry have had long‐term interests in engaged anthropology, and this was one of the leading themes of Low’s presidency of the American Anthropological Association (2007–2009). The Wenner‐Gren‐sponsored meeting led to an AAA Presidential Symposium of the same title held at the 107th annual meeting in November 2008. The overall theme of the AAA meetings that year was “Inclusion, Collaboration, and Engagement.”Figure 1. Participants in the symposium “The Anthropologist as Social Critic: Working toward a More Engaged Anthropology.” Seated from left: Kit Davis, Sally Merry, Setha Low, Ida Susser, Norma González. Standing from left: Barbara Rose Johnston, Victoria Malkin, Jonathan Spencer, John Jackson, Merrill Singer, Martha Lincoln, Alan Smart, Helen Siu, Signe Howell, María Teresa Sierra, Kamran Ali, Michael Herzfeld, Leslie Aiello. Not pictured: Kamari Clarke.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointThe major focus of Low and Merry’s Wenner‐Gren workshop, subsequent AAA Presidential Symposium, and current supplementary CA issue is the history and nature of engaged anthropology, its expansion and growth in the United States and abroad, and the dilemmas it raises. Low and Merry stress that the major contribution of this volume is to illustrate the breadth of forms of engagement. In their words, this extends “from basic commitment to our informants, to sharing and support with the communities with which we work, to teaching and public education, to social critique in academic and public forums, to more commonly understood forms of engagement such as collaboration, advocacy, and activism” (Low and Merry 2010, in this issue). Among the dilemmas that remain unresolved are the ethics of intervention, the appropriateness of critique given the anthropologist’s position, and the hazards of working with powerful government and military organizations.Engagement has been a continuing interest of the Wenner‐Gren Foundation. One of the first meetings organized by the foundation was Man’s Role in Changing the Face of the Earth (Thomas 1956). This was a pioneering anthropological initiative on environmental issues involving 70 international and interdisciplinary scholars who were selected for their common interest and curiosity about the human impact on the earth.Among many other Wenner‐Gren meetings dealing with various aspects of engaged anthropology are the following: The Teaching of Anthropology (Mandelbaum, Lasker, and Albert 1963); Indigenous Anthropology in Non‐Western Countries (Fahim 1982); The Sex Division of Labor, Development, and Women’s Status (Leacock and Safa 1986; Safa and Leacock 1981); The Time of AIDS: Social Analysis, Theory, and Method (Herdt and Lindenbaum 1992); Embedding Ethics (Meskell and Pels 2005); and Corporate Lives: New Perspectives on the Social Life of the Corporate Form (Partridge, Welker, and Hardin, forthcoming).Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Richard Fox, the Wenner‐Gren president at that time, organized three meetings on issues of public concern. “Suffering and Recovery,” held September 17–20, 2002, focused on issues of human wounding and suffering, as well as healing and reconciliation. “Heritage and Politics,” held May 9–12, 2003, aimed to evaluate anthropology’s capacity through basic research to make important interventions in public issues through a specific focus on heritage. “Anthropology Put to Work/Anthropology That Works?” held May 19–22, 2005, focused on the ways in which global forces, structural changes in academia and in the labor market, and the desire of anthropologists to engage in the world have led to a transformation in the discipline (Field and Fox 2007). Fox hoped to clarify the actual ways the discipline was contributing and adapting to global realities and demonstrate how younger scholars were already putting anthropology to work.One of the most recent Wenner‐Gren Foundation programs in the area of engaged anthropology is the Osmundsen Initiative supplement. This funding program provides additional financial support to Wenner‐Gren grantees who demonstrate the engagement of their research with broader social or intellectual issues and how their work exhibits the unique perspective anthropology brings to understanding contemporary concerns.Information about the Wenner‐Gren Foundation, the Symposium and Workshop program, and the Osmundsen Initiative can be found on the foundation’s Web site (http://www.wennergren.org/). The foundation is always looking for innovative symposium topics and encourages anthropologists to contact the foundation with their ideas for future Wenner‐Gren‐sponsored and Wenner‐Gren‐organized meetings.References CitedFahim, Hussein M., ed. 1982. Indigenous anthropology in non‐Western countries. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic Press.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarField, Les, and Richard Fox, eds. 2007. Anthropology put to work. Oxford: Berg.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarHerdt, Gilbert, and Shirley Lindenbaum, eds. 1992. The time of AIDS: social analysis, theory, and method. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarLeacock, Eleanor, and Helen I. Safa, eds. 1986. Women’s work: development and division of labor by gender. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarLow, Setha M., and Sally Engle Merry. 2010. Engaged anthropology: diversity and dilemmas: an introduction to supplement 2. Current Anthropology 51(S2):S203–S226.First citation in articleLinkGoogle ScholarMandelbaum, David G., Gabriel W. Lasker, and Ethel M. Albert, eds. 1963. The teaching of anthropology. Berkeley: University of California Press.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarMeskell, Lynn, and Peter Pels, eds. 2005. Embedding ethics. Oxford: Berg.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarPartridge, Damani J., Marina Welker, and Rebecca Hardin, eds. Forthcoming. Corporate lives: new perspectives on the social life of the corporate form. Current Anthropology supplement issue.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarSafa, Helen I., and Eleanor Leacock, eds. 1981. Development and the sexual division of labor. Special issue, Journal of Women in Culture and Society 7(2):265–512.First citation in articleLinkGoogle ScholarThomas, William L., ed. 1956. Man’s role in changing the face of the earth. Chicago: University of Chicago Press for the Wenner‐Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research and the National Science Foundation.First citation in articleGoogle Scholar Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 51, Number S2October 2010Engaged Anthropology: Diversity and Dilemmas Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/656340 Views: 892Total views on this site Citations: 14Citations are reported from Crossref © 2010 by The Wenner‐Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. 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