Anthropology and the politics of alterity: A Latin American dialectic and its relevance for ontological anthropologies
Authors
Publication Date
2022Journal Title
Anthropological Theory
ISSN
1463-4996
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
22
Issue
2
Pages
131-153
Language
en
Type
Article
This Version
VoR
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Lazar, S. (2022). Anthropology and the politics of alterity: A Latin American dialectic and its relevance for ontological anthropologies. Anthropological Theory, 22 (2), 131-153. https://doi.org/10.1177/14634996211030196
Abstract
<jats:p>Recent anglophone ontological anthropologies have an important Latin American intellectual and political history that is rarely fully acknowledged. This article outlines some of that history, arguing that debates about the politics of this ‘ontological turn’ should be read in the context of a tension between political economy and cosmological approaches that have been a feature of Latin American anthropology in some form since the early 20th century, and that are deeply implicated in histories of conquest and colonialism, including internal colonialism. This conceptual history helps to explain both the desire of some scholars to avoid a certain kind of politicisation and the argument that methodological and theoretical innovation within anthropology is political in itself. But it also means that ontological anthropology encounters some of the same challenges faced by indigenous movements confronted with similar choices.</jats:p>
Keywords
Articles, Ontology, indigeneity, political economy, Latin American anthropology, structuralism
Identifiers
10.1177_14634996211030196
External DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/14634996211030196
This record's URL: https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/336399
Rights
Licence:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Statistics
Total file downloads (since January 2020). For more information on metrics see the
IRUS guide.
Recommended or similar items
The current recommendation prototype on the Apollo Repository will be turned off on 03 February 2023. Although the pilot has been fruitful for both parties, the service provider IKVA is focusing on horizon scanning products and so the recommender service can no longer be supported. We recognise the importance of recommender services in supporting research discovery and are evaluating offerings from other service providers. If you would like to offer feedback on this decision please contact us on: support@repository.cam.ac.uk