Reflexivity and Anthropological Knowledge

1
Reflexivity and Anthropological Knowledge

• What is reflexivity?

2
Reflexivity and cultural phenomena turn to
subjectivity

• Changes in the sciences Kuhn (the structure of
  Scientific Revolution, 1962).
• ---Geertzs notion of Blurred Genres, 1980
• --exegesis critical interpretation
• Arts and Social Sciences autobiographies as an
  avenue for self-expression(Mead)
• Technique of inquiry (Oscar Lewis, Anthrop of
  Poverty)
• In the arts painting, theatre, etc.

3
Turn to subjectivity in New Journalism

• Resembles to ethnography
• Naïve concept of reality
• Value free
• The world is as it appears to be
• Author as a vehicle to transmit reality

4
Reflexivity and Anthropology

• to examine a field problem (machismo, gender
  relations, etc)
• to examine anthropology itself (critique of our
  methods, history, theories)
• as a tool for gathering data (technique of
  inquiry)
• to publicly examine the anthropologist's response
  to the field situation (by exposing the
  methodology)

5
The paradox/dilemma within anthropology

• the more the anthrop attempts to fulfill his
  scientific obligation to report on methods, the
  more he must acknowledge his own behaviour and
  the persona as a data
• Statements on the method them appear to be more
  personal, subjective, biased,

6
Anthropologists cope with the dilemma by

• Trying to become scientific (less subjective)
• Hiding on academic slogans

7
List of four factors for the emergence of
reflexivity in Anthropology (Nash and Wintrob,
1972)

• increase personal involvement of ethnographers
  with their subjects
• the democratization of anthropology (more people
  becoming anthrop, other classes, other cultures)
• multiple fields studies of the same culture
• independence of native peoples

8
(No Transcript)