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Anthropology in Austria has come a long way, in terms of achieving
diversity, growth and international visibility, since first
emerging in Vienna, the capital of the former Habsburg Empire, and
now of one of its main successor countries. This volume combines
elements of critical self-reflection about that academic past with
confidence in the intellectual currents presently in motion across
the discipline. As with the country’s contributions to world
literature and music, the trajectory of social-cultural
anthropology may be seen as a good example of the global relevance
of research in Austria within the humanities and social sciences.
This ‘anthropology in motion’ situates itself at the
intersections between contemporary and historical research, but
also often between the natural and the social sciences. It shows a
commitment to conceptual and theoretical pluralism, but, equally
importantly, a dedication to the maintenance and improvement of
standards of methodological quality. Whether empirical research is
focused on studies at home or abroad, the blending of renewed forms
of ethnographic fieldwork with solid comparative analyses and
archival research characterizes many of these ongoing advances.
By the early twenty-first century neo-nationalist forces have
established themselves in a number of the world's large regions and
subcontinents. From Australia to South Asia, in Eastern and Western
Europe, comparable parties and movements have positioned themselves
in national parliaments and governments, with some considerable
impact on state power. In contrast to right-wing extremist parties
in the past, these recent movements mostly operate within legal
parliamentary channels, using essentialized notions of local
culture to mobilize against real and alleged threats to local
identities of status, gender, religion, nationhood and ethnicity.
Prompted by this near-simultaneous rise to political influence of
more than a dozen apparently similar parties across Western Europe,
this collection offers a range of European case studies with
selected global examples, such as the Front National, the late Pim
Fortuyn, India and the BJP, and Pauline Hanson and her One Nation
Party in Australia. It takes up the theoretical and methodological
challenges posed by this phenomenon and asks what distinctive
contributions anthropology might make to its study. Andre Gingrich
is Full Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of
Vienna. Recent publications include Anthropology, by Comparison
(co-edited with Richard G. Fox, 2002) and One Discipline, Four
Ways: British, German, French, and American Anthropology: The Halle
lectures (co-authored with Frederik Barth, Robert Parkin and Sydel
Silverman, University of Chicago Press, forthcoming). Marcus Banks
is Professor of Visual Anthropology at the University of Oxford,
and author of Organizing Jainism in India and England (Clarendon
Press, 1992); Ethnicity: Anthropological Constructions (Routledge,
1996) and Visual Methods in Social Research (Sage, 2001), as well
as numerous journal articles and book contributions.
Issues of the construction of Self and Other, normally in the
context of social exclusion of those perceived as different, have
assumed a new urgency. This collection offers a fresh perspective
on the ongoing debates on these questions in the social sciences
and the humanities by focusing specifically on one theoretical
proposition, namely, that the seemingly universal processes of
identity formation and exclusion of the 'other' can be
differentiated according to three modalities. All contributors
directly engage with rigorous empirical testing and theoretical
cross-examination of this proposition. Their results have direct
implications not only for a more differentiated understanding of
collective identities, but also for a better understanding of
extreme collective violence and genocide.
Issues of the construction of Self and Other, normally in the
context of social exclusion of those perceived as different, have
assumed a new urgency. This collection offers a fresh perspective
on the ongoing debates on these questions in the social sciences
and the humanities by focusing specifically on one theoretical
proposition, namely, that the seemingly universal processes of
identity formation and exclusion of the 'other' can be
differentiated according to three modalities. All contributors
directly engage with rigorous empirical testing and theoretical
cross-examination of this proposition. Their results have direct
implications not only for a more differentiated understanding of
collective identities, but also for a better understanding of
extreme collective violence and genocide.
By the early twenty-first century neo-nationalist forces have
established themselves in a number of the world's large regions and
subcontinents. From Australia to South Asia, in Eastern and Western
Europe, comparable parties and movements have positioned themselves
in national parliaments and governments, with some considerable
impact on state power. In contrast to right-wing extremist parties
in the past, these recent movements mostly operate within legal
parliamentary channels, using essentialized notions of local
culture to mobilize against real and alleged threats to local
identities of status, gender, religion, nationhood and ethnicity.
Prompted by this near-simultaneous rise to political influence of
more than a dozen apparently similar parties across Western Europe,
this collection offers a range of European case studies with
selected global examples, such as the Front National, the late Pim
Fortuyn, India and the BJP, and Pauline Hanson and her One Nation
Party in Australia. It takes up the theoretical and methodological
challenges posed by this phenomenon and asks what distinctive
contributions anthropology might make to its study.
Comparison has long been the backbone of the discipline of anthropology. But recent developments in anthropology, including critical self-reflection and new case studies sited in a globalized world, have pushed comparative work aside. For the most part, comparison as theory and method has been a casualty of the critique of 'grand theory' and of a growing mistrust of objectivist, hard-science methodology in the social sciences. Today it is time for anthropology to resume its central task of exploring humankind through comparison, using its newfound critical self-awareness under changing global conditions. In Anthropology By Comparision, an international group of prominent anthropologists re-visits, re-theorizes and re-invigorates comparison as a legitimate and fruitful enterprise. The authors explore the value of anthropological comparison and encourage an international dialogue about comparative research. While rejecting older, universalist comparative methods, these scholars take a fresh look at various subaltern and neglected approaches to comparison from their own national traditions. They then present new approaches that are especially relevant to the globalized world of the twenty-first century. Every student and practitioner of anthropology and the social sciences will find this thought-provoking volume essential reading. Anthropology, by Comparison is a call to creative reflection on the past and productive action in the present, a challenge to anthropologists to revitalize their unique contribution to human understanding. Anthropology, by Comparison is an indispensable overview of anthropology's roots - and its future - with regard to the comparative study of humankind. eBook available with sample pages: PB:041526054X EB:0203463900
Comparison has long been the backbone of the discipline of anthropology. But recent developments in anthropology, including critical self-reflection and new case studies sited in a globalized world, have pushed comparative work aside. For the most part, comparison as theory and method has been a casualty of the critique of 'grand theory' and of a growing mistrust of objectivist, hard-science methodology in the social sciences. Today it is time for anthropology to resume its central task of exploring humankind through comparison, using its newfound critical self-awareness under changing global conditions. In Anthropology By Comparision, an international group of prominent anthropologists re-visits, re-theorizes and re-invigorates comparison as a legitimate and fruitful enterprise. The authors explore the value of anthropological comparison and encourage an international dialogue about comparative research. While rejecting older, universalist comparative methods, these scholars take a fresh look at various subaltern and neglected approaches to comparison from their own national traditions. They then present new approaches that are especially relevant to the globalized world of the twenty-first century. Every student and practitioner of anthropology and the social sciences will find this thought-provoking volume essential reading. Anthropology, by Comparison is a call to creative reflection on the past and productive action in the present, a challenge to anthropologists to revitalize their unique contribution to human understanding. Anthropology, by Comparison is an indispensable overview of anthropology's roots - and its future - with regard to the comparative study of humankind.
What is a small country? Is a country small because of the size of
its territory or its population? Can smallness be relative, based
on the subjective perception of a country's inhabitants or in
comparison with one's neighbors? How does smallness, however it is
defined, shape a country and its relations with other countries?
Answers to these questions, among others, can be found in Small
Countries, the first and only anthropological study of smallness as
a defining variable. In terms of population size, some two thirds
of the countries of the world can now be considered small
countries, and they can be found in all world regions except North
America and East Asia. They exhibit great diversity with regard to
culture, history, and institutional arrangements, so there can be
no model of any "typical" small country. Yet the essays collected
by Ulf Hannerz and Andre Gingrich identify a range of family
resemblances in such areas as internal connectivity and
sensibilities of identity. Contributors describe a number of
similar problems with which small countries must cope, on domestic
levels as well as in their transnational and global encounters. For
some small countries, challenges such as media organization and
branding have a negative impact on real or perceived vulnerability,
while for others, the same challenges facilitate success stories.
Comparative case studies cover a diverse set of regions, including
the Caribbean, Middle East, Africa, and Europe, and employ diverse
anthropological approaches. Tacit assumptions about scale,
identities, and networks in everyday social life are best revealed
through close, interpretive effort. At times a sense of shared
belonging comes to the fore with particular events, such as a
national crisis or an unexpected success in international sports,
offering scope for situational analyses. In showing how small
countries confront globalization, Small Countries reveals how the
sense of scale intensifies when the world as a whole shrinks.
Contributors: Regina F. Bendix, Aleksandar Boskovic, Virginia R.
Dominguez, Thomas Hylland Eriksen, Andre Gingrich, Beng-Lan Goh,
Ulf Hannerz, Sulayman N. Khalaf, Eva-Maria Knoll, Jacqueline
Knoerr, Orvar Loefgren, Joao de Pina-Cabral, Don Robotham, Cris
Shore, Richard Wilk, Helena Wulff.
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