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The Problem of Anthropology in Historical Perspective

An Inquiry into the Growth of the Social Sciences

Bibliographic Data

ID2139384
AuthorsArchie Mafeje (The Hague, Netherlands., corresponding author)
Year1976
Volume10
Issue2
Pages307-333
Publication date1976-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCanadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-3968 • E-ISSN: 1923-3051
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00083968.1976.10803758
OpenAlexW2403194356
LanguageEN
Citations received34

In times of crisis there is an inevitable return to fundamentals. Questions such as the relation of knowledge to the world of experience are revived, often in a disharmonious way. That such a state of affairs obtains in anthropology can only be judged by the frequence which divergent views concerning the status of their discipline have occurred among modern anthropologists. Starting with isolated individual and intuitive insights and misgivings in the mid-sixties, the process gathered momentum and had reached near-rebellious proportions by the end of the sixties. Whereas earlier writers such as Hooker, Maquet, and Levi-Strauss I represented a critical liberal reevaluation within traditional anthropology, the later and younger writers such as Gough (generational difference notwithstanding), Goddard, Magubane, Moore, Faris, Stauder, Banaji and Talal Asad represent a leftist denunciation of colonial (not to say positivist) anthropology.2 While historical instances have largely coincided, the theoretical nuances of the same movement have varied from country to country. In America the rebellion has tended to be more ideological than theoretical.3 In Britain, despite a sharper generational gap than in America, the ideological aspect has been played down in favour of what is called academic discussion. In practice this has led

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Unique citing works34
Citations per year0,76
Citation span1981 - 2025 (45)
Citation velocityrecent
Highly citedNo
Citation typesNeutral: 33
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