The Rebirth of Anthropological Theory / / Stanley Barrett.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter University of Toronto Press eBook-Package Archive 1933-1999
• VerfasserIn: Barrett, Stanley,
• Place / Publishing House: Toronto : : University of Toronto Press, , [2016]; ©1992
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Series: Heritage
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (280 p.)

Innovative and often controversial, Barrett's study ranges over the entire scope of anthropological theory. It provides a fresh interpretation of the history of theory and mounts an alternative perspective, built around dialectics, that is eminently suitable to post-colonial anthropology.He argues that anthropological theory has failed to be cumulative. It has been characterized by oscillation and repetition - theoretical orientations have appeared and disappeared, only to be discovered once again. Addressing numerous conceptual contradictions which have never been resolved, he introduces novel concepts such as salvage theory and backward theory, and argues that in many respects anthropological theory resembles the structuralists interpretation of myth.Social life, he asserts, is inherently contradictory, although concealed by numerous mechanisms, most of which reinforce the status quo. Attacking the illusion of simplicity which has dominated positivistic approaches and the out-dated identification of anthropology with non-Western, primitive, and tribal societies, Barrett contends that power and privilege everywhere should be the basic concerns of anthropological inquiry.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- PART I. The Current State of Anthropological Theory: A Critique -- 1. Introduction -- 2. An Overview of Theory -- 3. Paradigms or Pseudo-paradigms -- 4. Conceptual Contradictions -- 5. Theory as Myth -- 6. Structuralism and the Second Burial of Émile Durkheim -- PART 2. Contradiction as the Basis of Social Life: A Solution -- 7. Contradictions in Everyday Life -- 8. Neutralizing Mechanisms -- 9. The Illusion of Simplicity -- 10. Reflections on Our Future -- Bibliography -- Index