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Current Debates in Anthropology

Module description

This course will delineate some recent trajectories in anthropological theory. Over the course of eleven weeks we are going to explore four directions in which anthropological thought appears to be moving; but this is a joint adventure, because unlike the history of anthropological thought, contemporary debates shift and change as we speak. The course is structured into four parts: three ‘turns’ or reorientations of thought; and a look towards the horizon. We shall open with discussions of time and the ‘temporal turn’, especially the ways in which our time is inflected by the state and the market; but also our epoch, the so-called Anthropocene, a time of unprecedented anthropogenic planetary changes. In the following weeks we shall discuss the ‘ontological turn’, marked by a call to use indigenous ontologies to shed critical light onto dominant assumptions in Western thought, as well as an increased interest in non-human actors, including ‘things’; and the ‘affective turn’, which seeks to shift attention to affective states, moving away from emotions as individual states and instead towards feelings as coming into being in interaction with the world. Finally, we shall turn our attention to the future, covering a range of theoretical engagements with a prospective orientation: work on doubt and uncertainty, but also hope, creativity and imagination. The concluding session interrogates the idea of a ‘turn’ and suggests some underlying similarities and problems in these various debates.

Module aims - intentions of the module

The primary aim of the module is to build on your existing knowledge of anthropological theory, and introduce you to a body of concepts and approaches developed by practitioners of this dynamic subject in response to conducting fieldwork in a changing world. The module also aims to equip you with the necessary knowledge and skills to enable you to understand and evaluate the differing views expressed by established anthropologists in relation to key theoretical debates. Through constructive seminar discussions you will be also be empowered to feel confident in utilising anthropological theory as a tool for analysing your own research.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. display a detailed knowledge of specific theoretical concepts and methodological approaches in anthropology and the intellectual debates concerning them;
• 2. display an informed awareness of, and sensitivity to, human diversity, and a reflexive appreciation of its scope and complexity;
• 3. evaluate the ethical implications of anthropological research in relation to a selection of ethnographic case studies and in relation to the Association of Social Anthropologists' Ethical Guidelines for Good Research Practice.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 4. demonstrate a competence in using major theoretical perspectives and concepts in anthropology via the application of appropriate theoretical models in the analysis of ethnographic case studies
• 5. demonstrate a recognition of the politics of language, indirect forms of communication, forms of power, theoretical statements and claims of authority, and an ability to analyse them
• 6. plan, undertake and present scholarly work that shows an understanding of anthropological aims, methods and theoretical considerations

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. express your own ideas orally and in writing, summarize the arguments of others, and distinguish between the two
• 8. engage in constructive discussion in group situations and seminars
• 9. evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in learning and study skills and to take action to improve your capacity to learn

Syllabus plan

Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Time I: The temporal turn

• Time II: Anthropocene

• Being I: The ontological turn

• Being II: Things

• Feeling I: The affective turn

• Feeling II: Social suffering

• Horizons I: Uncertainty and doubt

• Horizons II: Creativity and imagination

• Turning in circles, or moving ahead?

• Anthropological trajectories

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Basic reading:

Bear, Laura. 2016. Time as Technique. Annual Review of Anthropology, Vol. 45

Cooper, E & D. Pratten. 2014. Introduction. In Cooper, E & D. Pratten (eds.) Ethnographies of Uncertainty in Africa (London: Palgrave).

Crapanzano, Vincent. 2004. “Imaginative Horizons” in Imaginative Horizons: An Essay in Literary-Philosophical Anthropology. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Latour, Bruno. 2014. “Anthropology at the Time of the Anthropocene: A Personal View of What Is To Be Studied.” Distinguished lecture, Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Washington, DC, December 6.

Laidlaw, J. 2002. For an anthropology of ethics and freedom. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 8(2): 311-332.

Viveiros de Castro, E. 2004. Exchanging Perspectives: The Transformation of Objects into Subjects in Amerindian Ontologies. Common Knowledge, 10(3), 463-484.

Navaro-Yashin, Yael. 2012. The Make-Believe Space: Affective Geography in a Postwar Polity. Durham & London: Duke University Press.

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

ELE - http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/

Key words search

Anthropology, theory, ethnography