Social Anthropology

edited by Maynard, Kent

The emergence of the anthropology of colonialism in the 1990s has stimulated and enhanced critical reflection on the cultural and historical embedding of the discipline of anthropology, offering what is in effect a historiography of the discipline's present. How has this historical consciousness changed the contours of the discipline? Has it allowed anthropologists to critically distance their discipline from its intimate involvement with the world of modernity, development and the welfare state, as it first emerged under colonial rule? Have anthropologists learned that, instead of targeting and thus essentialising otherness, we should now study the processes by which human differences are constructed, hierarchised and negotiated? This presentation focuses on recent developments in European and North American anthropology in order to discuss the potential effects of the anthropology of colonialism's historical consciousness on anthropological ontologies (epitomised by current discussions on ‘indigenous peoples’), epistemologies (in reconceptualising ‘field’ and ‘method’) and ethics. It thus tries to outline the ways in which the critical promise of the anthropology of colonialism faces the obstacles that the present‐day heritage of colonialism puts in the way of realising its future potential.

How was the colonial legacy managed by the regime that emerged from the Mexican revolution (1910–1917)? Through the historical and ethnographic analysis of two foundation narratives written at an interval of 200 years in the Nahuatl village of Milpa Alta (DF), this article examines the State's attempt to establish a monopoly on the legitimate past by ‘eclipsing’ the colonial past in favour of the pre‐Hispanic one, which became the national heritage in Mexico.

The new millennium has been the point of departure for several important transformations in ethnographic museums throughout France. Focused on the Musée du quai Branly, the paper examines the main principles guiding its creation: the accent put on cultural diversity and the recognition of the equal value of different cultures. These concerns emerged in the context of a growing civic crisis as if through objects, museums attempt to palliate government policies and social exclusions. The paper also analyses the double erasure of the past within this museum: the colonial past as well as the history of the collections. Thus, Branly intends to be devoted to a new global cause, the promotion of cultural diversity in accordance with a number of declarations from UNESCO and other international bodies. By relegating ethnographic information to a secondary role, the Musée du quai Branly inaugurates a new model of museums in resonance with current political and ethical concerns and imposes new challenges on museum anthropology in particular and anthropology in general.

Response to João de Pina‐Cabral