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Whither Anthropology
E. Taborsky (ETABORSK@ARUS.UBISHOPS.CA)
Fri, 1 Dec 1995 12:20:22 EST
I wonder if what seems to be a 'fading' of anthropology has anything
to do with a global economy and global sociostructure. Anthropology,
after all, began with the expansion of the market economy over the
globe, and the western contact with 'Other' peoples. But now that
most 'others' have been entrapped within a market economy, the
specific role of the anthropologist (as researcher of non-western
societies) may need to be changed. I think that Sociology's
confinement to industrial-style societies is too narrow for its good,
and equally, Anthropology's confinement to non-industrial, or small
group ethnics within industrialism - is narrow. I hate to say it, but
I wonder if it would be more fruitful for the research on 'what and
why are people' - to be broadened, with the merging of sociology
and anthropology. The clear-cut distinctions between the two
disciplines seem to be disappearing, and trying to maintain them
might simply harm research.
Edwina Taborsky
Bishop's University Phone: (819)822.9600
Lennoxville, Quebec Fax: (819)822.9661
Canada JIM 1Z7
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