Anthropological Positioning - The Boundaries and Foundations of Field Science

Author: (USA) G. Ferguson
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-01-01
Features: In its appropriate decomposition and aggregation of the concept of fieldwork, it is successful and engaging. It challenges our understanding of current and future anthropological methods and cultural strategies in the long-standing ethnographic standards of the social sciences. For anyone genuinely concerned with ethnology and its successors, this book is essential. — John Comaroff, University of Chicago
This is an extremely important contribution to anthropology. More importantly, despite being direct and sharp, the tone of the book remains constructive rather than destructive—or perhaps "destructively constructive." — John Vincent, Barnard University
The book’s contribution lies in its profound and stimulating review of past and present fieldwork ideas, pointing out the direction in which humanity as a concept and as an evolving discipline is moving. We often refer to Anthropological Positioning when debating how to proceed next. — Ulf. Hannerz, Author of Transnational Relations Studies
The timely and important edited volume by Guta and Ver should be widely read and appreciated. — Cherie Otter, Columbia University
In terms of knowledge systems and professional practices, fieldwork and the related ethnography have never been more central to the discipline of anthropology. From a disciplinary perspective, the era when ethnography was seen as a "simple description"—a means of providing raw data for the science of natural human behavior—has long passed. Whether it is the disciplinary stylistic shift (from "deep description" to "writing culture") or the disciplinary historical shift (from political economy to regional sociohistorical studies), mainstream sociocultural anthropology in prestigious departments at universities in the United States and the United Kingdom views ethnographic description as a valuable and vibrant part of the discipline’s development.