Power and Ethnicity History and Anthropology
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2156356 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Patrick Geary, Patrick J Geary (0000-0002-3971-2588, Russian State Agrarian Correspondence University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 8-17 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | History and Anthropology (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0275-7206 • E-ISSN: 1477-2612 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02757206.2014.933106 |
| OpenAlex | W2100038817 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 11 |
This essay reflects on the relationship between anthropological and historical scholarship of ethnicity, picking up on themes explored by Andre Gingrich, by considering the epistemological and evidentiary limitations of social scientific and historical analysis and reconstruction. Beginning with the consideration of the pioneering transdisciplinary efforts of Robert Darnton and Clifford Geertz, it argues that many of the weaknesses ascribed to such efforts are actually part of the nature of social scientific investigation which, in the terms of Peter Winch, must take into account two sets of relationships: that of the relationship between the scientist and the phenomena that he or she observes and the symbolic system that he or she shares with other scientists, which can only be understood from the social context of common activity. How these two relationships challenge social scientific analysis of ethnicity are examined through a consideration of the difficulties of applying Anthony Smith's definition of an ethnie to either Fredrik Barth's classic essay on “Pathan Identity and its Maintenance” or Helmut Reimitz's study of Frankish identity. It concludes that neither anthropologists nor historians are simply describing societies as they are or as they were but rather attempt to describe societies as witnesses within them thought they should be, and we do this for our own society, not for those of the participants, past or present
Aesthetics · Context (archaeology · Epistemology · Ethnic group · Identity (music · Political science · Power (physics · Scholarship · Social science · Sociology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Anthropology · History · Law · Philosophy · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
The ethnic origins of nations
The Great Cat Massacre and Other Episodes in French Cultural History
The Dangers of Ritual
The Idea of a Social Science and Its Relation to Philosophy
Political Leadership Among Swat Pathans
Ecologic Relationships of Ethnic Groups in Swat, North Pakistan
Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism
Multiple Histories
| Citations per year | 0.36 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2015 - 2015 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |