Technology as Efficacious Action on Objects . . . and Subjects

Bibliographic Data

ID20204872
AuthorsJean-Pierre Warnier (Centre d'Etudes africaines, EHESS, Paris, France), Jean‐pierre Warnier (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, corresponding author)
Year2009
Volume14
Issue4
Pages459-470
Publication date2009-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Material Culture (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-1835 • E-ISSN: 1460-3586
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1359183509345944
OpenAlexW2116746704
LanguageEN
Citations received41
References cited9

Techniques are usually defined as efficacious actions on something, that is, typically, on material substances and artefacts. This definition may be extended to the techniques of the subject as efficacious actions on the embodied human being. Consequently, the relevance of the anthropology of techniques may be extended from the material world to the human subject. This article draws on the work of Hubert, Mauss, Foucault and others, and on an ethnographic example to suggest that the efficacy of the techniques of the subject may rest on a process of identification between subjects and objects

Identification · Relevance · Historical and Scientific Studies · Semiotics and Representation Studies · Visual Culture and Art Theory

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