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Resumo

This article examines how the meta-narratives of modernity, particularly those of capitalism and the state, shape ethnographic practice. Focusing on the production of ethnographic knowledge in the Zambian copperbelt, it argues that the conceptual and practical separation between society, economy, and polity characteristic of much modernist thought tends to be reproduced in anthropological analysis. The article suggests that ethnography can offer a powerful critique of such separations by attending to the ways in which people's lives are simultaneously shaped by a range of social forces. It explores how Zambians living in a context of economic decline and political liberalization negotiate the complex and often contradictory demands of capitalist labor markets, state power, and kinship relations. By focusing on the everyday experiences of ordinary people, the article seeks to provide a more nuanced and grounded understanding of the processes of social change in contemporary Africa.

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